…it is not equivalent to nociception, the perception of forces likely to damage the tissues of the body. Nociception can occur without pain and vice versa; also, the sensation of pain is only a part of the total act of nociception. There are reflex effects as well, such as a…

Because the pain response is amplified in fibromyalgia patients, what they perceive as painful stimuli is normally perceived as painless in healthy individuals.

, for chemical odours), and nociceptors (for painful stimuli). This classification is useful because it makes clear that various sense organs can share common features in the way they convert (transduce) stimulus energy into nerve impulses. Thus, auditory cells and vestibular (balance) receptors in the ear and some receptors in…

Sherrington introduced the term nociception to describe the pain response to such stimuli. Specificity theory suggested that individuals who reported pain in the absence of an evident cause were delusional, neurotically obsessed, or malingering (often the conclusion of military surgeons or those treating workmen’s compensation cases). Another theory, which…

Histological analyses indicate that a cold-sensitive spot is innervated by a thin, myelinated nerve fibre that penetrates the dermis and divides into several unmyelinated branches about 70 μm beneath the skin surface. The tips of these branches are embedded in small concavities on…