Neurochemical Aspects of Emotional Pain Modulation, Sachbücher

Pain is a highly subjective experience and not necessarily related linearily to a nociceptive input. It is influenced by pathological and genetic factors, and is further subject to a complex set of individual, contextual, and environmental variables. Emotional states are thereby associated with an intricate interplay of coordinated neurotransmitter systems that lead to endogenous pain modulation. Mu-opioidergic neurotransmission in emotional pain modulation is one of the key aspects of this thesis. The findings clearly demonstrate that pain is a dynamic experience, by which noxious stimuli are permanently modulated and re-evaluated within a broader context of the individual and its interaction with the environment. The acknowledgment of the organism as a unity, where mental phenomena cannot be separated from their physical consequences, shapes our understanding of 'bodily' and 'emotional.