Cited by 2,092Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsPain Management and Placebo EffectPain Management and Treatment

Psychological and neural mechanisms of the affective dimension of pain

Price, Donald D.·2000·Science

Abstract

The affective dimension of pain is made up of feelings of unpleasantness and emotions associated with future implications, termed secondary affect. Experimental and clinical studies show serial interactions between pain sensation intensity, pain unpleasantness, and secondary affect. These pain dimensions and their interactions relate to a central network of brain structures that processes nociceptive information both in parallel and in series. Spinal pathways to limbic structures and medial thalamic nuclei provide direct inputs to brain areas involved in affect. Another source is from spinal pathways to somatosensory thalamic and cortical areas and then through a cortico-limbic pathway. The latter integrates nociceptive input with contextual information and memory to provide cognitive mediation of pain affect. Both direct and cortico-limbic pathways converge on the same anterior cingulate cortical and subcortical structures whose function may be to establish emotional valence and response priorities.

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Crossref · 10.1126/science.288.5472.1769

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  • Both lateral and medial systems thought to mediate "sensory" versus "affective" aspects of pain (e.g., S2/dpINS and dACC/aINS) are strongly responsive to nociceptive input.

    “both lateral and medial systems thought to mediate “sensory” versus “affective” aspects of pain (e.g., S2/dpINS and dACC/aINS, respectively) are strongly responsive to nociceptive input [13],[71].”
  • Human imaging studies show that social disconnection engages brain regions including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula cortex, which also process the affective component of physical pain.

    “This is supported by human imaging studies revealing that social disconnection engages brain regions including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula cortex190, which also process the affective component of physical pain191.”

    From Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis (2019) · cites this paper as [191]

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Authors
Price, D. D.
Affiliations
University of Florida (US)
Corresponding author
Price, Donald D.
Venue
Science
Published
2000-06-09
Volume
288
Issue
5472
Pages
1769-1772
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2007791604
Cited by
2,092
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 50 · 2025: 67 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 77 · 2022: 95 · 2021: 93 · 2020: 88 · 2019: 114 · 2018: 86 · 2017: 88 · 2016: 102 · 2015: 81 · 2014: 79 · 2013: 103 · 2012: 83
FWCI
26.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Public Health Service (R01 295527912)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
Keywords
affective dimension of pain, pain unpleasantness, nociception, anterior cingulate cortex, medial thalamic nuclei, emotional valence, pain memory
MeSH terms
Affect, Afferent Pathways, Animals, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Humans, Limbic System, Pain, Parietal Lobe, Somatosensory Cortex, Spinal Cord, Thalamic Nuclei, Tomography, Emission-Computed

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