Functional Neuroanatomy of Pain (Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology)

Pain is an unpleasant but very important biological signal for danger. Nociception is necessary for survival and maintaining the integrity of the organism in a potentially hostile environment. Pain is both a sensory experience and a perceptual metaphor for damage and it is activated by noxious stimuli that act on a complex pain sensory apparatus. However, chronic pain having no more a protective role can become a ruining disease itself, termed "neuropathic pain".