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Gate control theory

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
has any one got an understanding on the gate control theory of pain ? its for my A2 psychology course and im havin a lil trouble on it thank u !
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *wracks brain*

    Something to do with pain impulses being blocked by another controlled stimulation of the nerve?

    I'll try and look it up for you...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Gate-Control Theory
    While psychology's involvement in the field of pain has long been recognized, Melzack & Wall's (1965) [140] classic paper on the gate-control theory served as a major catalyst by moving the field of pain research away from the Cartesian model of a direct connection between a source of injury and a pain center in the brain. Their model provided instead for a variable link between injury and pain, with descending influences from the central nervous system serving to modulate afferent activity in response to noxious inputs. Suddenly, it seemed, pain research and pain management, both of which had largely been the domain of the medical profession, were open to many other disciplines, and, over the years, psychology's value was established.

    The gate-control theory has undergone modifications (Melzack & Wall 1996) [141] since its formulation, but the basic conception remains unchanged. Small-diameter fibers respond to noxious inputs and convey information to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and then to subcortical and cortical structures subserving three dimensions of pain: sensory-discriminative, motivational-affective, and cognitive-evaluative. In addition, descending influences from higher regions act via the midbrain and medulla to exert an inhibitory influence on the spinal cord and to inhibit the response of transmitting cells to injury.

    Clearly, this description is farcically simplistic. Wall & Melzack's Textbook of Pain (1994) [206] devotes its first dozen chapters and over 250 pages to an elaboration of the neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms that might account for pain transmission and modulation. Theoretical developments regarding pain transmission and encoding continue apace. One such is Melzack's (1990) [139] concept of the "neuromatrix," a genetically determined neural network subserving body sensation that can be modified by experience. It has been applied particularly to phantom-limb phenomena. Magnetic source imaging in phantom-limb patients (Flor et al 1995) [69] has disclosed extensive reorganization of the somatosensory cortex, an example of neuronal plasticity that may be revealed repeatedly in future studies of chronic pain conditions.

    See also
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