Formation of a Precise Behavioral Motor Response to an External Pain Stimulus Is Not Possible without a Subjective Experience of Pain

• Published in: Neurophysiology (New York) Vol. 51; no. 6; pp. 462 - 474
• Main Authors: Soloviov, O. V., Dyachenko, Yu. Yu, Kozak, R. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavior; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Discussions; Neural networks; Neurons; Neurophysiology; Neurosciences; Pain; Pain perception; Structure-function relationships; integration of information; pain as an operator of information processing; information continuum of the NNs; mental phenomena; functionally specific synapses; neuronal networks (NNs); formation of the structure of a motor act
• ISSN: 0090-2977; 1573-9007
• DOI: 10.1007/s11062-020-09843-8

The formation of a structured behavioral motor response to an external painful (nociceptive) stimulus is performed in certain cerebral neuronal networks (NNs), and this is related to specific mental phenomena (experience of pain, mental pain images). We state that the description of the respective NNs (a biologically expedient pain neuromatrix) is impossible without taking into account mental pain-related phenomena. Structural and functional features of the respective NNs, responsible for the performance of pain-related behavior, are discussed. The specificities of functioning of definite synapses in the process of regulation of such behavior are also discussed. In fact, the proposed article deals with functional (as well as causal) relationships between objective and subjective processes providing the formation of novel information in the brain; this complex process is based on the integration of the earlier experience in the brain in the course of formation of a “competent” (expedient, structured by the above experience) motor act.