Abstract

EBLEN-ZAJJUR, Antonio. Neurofisiología de la nocicepción. Gac Méd Caracas [online]. 2005, vol.113, n.4, pp.466-473. ISSN 0367-4762.

Despite that pain is too familiar for the medical practice and for the human history, its physiological and physiopathological knowledge have been made only in the last 50 years. The complexity of the nociceptive process needs a multidisciplinary approach with convergence of techniques from molecular biology, membrane biophysics, immunology, genetics, electrophysiology, biochemistry, among others. This approach still can achieve a partial vision of the process. Injury induced tissular changes, acute responses from nociceptors and primary afferents, spinal nociceptive processing, as well as their characteristics and related factors including neurotransmitters involved and the spinal neuronal network, will be the aim of the present article with emphasis in experimental data and their clinical relevance.

Keywords : Nociceptive pain; Neuropathic pain; Neuronal plasticity; Spinal dorsal horn; Neuronal network.