Oh, wow, oh, oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

Oh, my. Hello, you're listening to the Science of Everything podcast, episode 121, the biology of pain.

I'm your host, James Fodor.

In this episode, we're going to look at the biology and psychology and neuroscience behind the perception of pain.

So this may not necessarily be the most pleasant topic, although I think it is a very interesting and important one.

So specifically, I'm going to talk about

the underlying mechanisms of pain, transduction and detection of pain signals, so starting

with the noceoception and the transduction of those noceoceptor signals through spinal pathways

up to the central nervous system and the brain specifically. We'll then talk about the

modulatory effects

of chemicals such as opioids and how all of these different signals and inputs are processed

by the brain to actually deliver the percept of pain. In doing so, we'll look at some

interesting ideas and phenomena that are relevant, such as the phenomena of referred pain,

psychogenic pain, and congenital insensitivity to pain. And I'll talk a little bit about

how we actually construct these perceptions or experiences of pain in the cerebral cortex

and some of the methodological difficulties with studying pain being a subjective

experience. Recommended pre-listening is episode 63 on the nervous system, which will give some

useful background, although probably not essential. All right, that all being said, let's make

start and talk about what is pain. The standard definition that you'll find in these sort

of introductions is taken from the International Association for the Study of Pain. They would

know after all. They define pain as, quote, an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience

...