People often experience the phenomenon of injuring a hand and feeling relief from vigorously shaking it. The mechanism behind this effect is fairly well explained by the "gate control theory" of Melzack and Wall, but it is ...
Special receptor cells under the skin enable us to feel pain and touch. But Schwann cells also play a key role in detecting such stimuli, researchers at the Max Delbrück Center report in Nature Communications. This discovery ...
Feb 6, 2024
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Researchers have uncovered a neural pathway preferentially involved in pain perception across species. The study was led by Profs. Tu Yiheng and Hu Li from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and ...
Oct 11, 2023
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When we press our temples to soothe an aching head or rub an elbow after an unexpected blow, it often brings some relief. It is believed that pain-responsive cells in the brain quiet down when these neurons also receive touch ...
Dec 1, 2022
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Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified a class of sensory neurons (nerve cells that electrically send and receive messages between the body and brain) that can be activated by stimuli as precise ...
Aug 17, 2017
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When you accidentally touch a hot oven, you rapidly pull your hand away. Although scientists know the basic neural circuits involved in sensing and responding to such painful stimuli, they are still sorting out the molecular ...
Sep 2, 2014
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The skin is a human being's largest sensory organ, helping to distinguish between a pleasant contact, like a caress, and a negative sensation, like a pinch or a burn. Previous studies have shown that these sensations are ...
Jan 30, 2013
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Pain? Just turn it off! It may sound like science fiction, but researchers based in Munich, Berkeley and Bordeaux have now succeeded in inhibiting pain-sensitive neurons on demand, in the laboratory. The crucial element in ...
Feb 22, 2012
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Does pain perception change with age? In particular, is there a significant increase or decrease in perception between older and younger people in response to different types of painful stimuli, such as heat and pressure?
May 24, 2024
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Have you ever wondered why your back aches when you're down with the flu or a cold? Or COVID?
Jun 15, 2023
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