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The gate control theory says neurological gateways decide which pain signals pass through and which don’t. It's related to nerve fibers that carry different messages to the brain.
The Gate Control Theory of Pain is a mechanism, in the spinal cord, in which pain signals can be sent up to the brain to be processed to accentuate the possible perceived pain, or attenuate it at the spinal cord itself.
The gate control theory of pain was formulated in 1965 by a neurobiologist and a psychologist who wanted to propose that spinal nerves act as gates to let pain travel through to reach the...
The gate control theory of pain asserts that non-painful input closes the nerve "gates" to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system.
The core principle of the Gate Control Theory of Pain is that nociceptive impulses can be facilitated or prevented from contacting the brain via a neural “gate” situated in the spinal cord. Modulating this gate are both small-diameter unmyelinated C fibers and large-diameter myelinated A fibers.
The gate theory of pain, published by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall in Science in 1965, was formulated to provide a mechanism for coding the nociceptive component of cutaneous sensory input.
The gate control theory of pain (Fig. 7.1) was developed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 and is the most influential, comprehensive, and adaptive conceptualization of pain and its consequences to date.
Nerves from all over the body run to the spinal cord, which is the first main meeting point for the nervous system. In the spinal cord, you might imagine a series of gates into which messages about pain arrive from all over the body. These gates can sometimes be much more open than at other times.
Wall P. D. The gate control theory of pain mechanisms. A re-examination and re-statement. Brain. 1978 Mar;101 (1):1–18. doi: 10.1093/brain/101.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group.
The theory explains the influence of cognitive aspects of pain and allows for learning and experience to affect how pain is experienced. Anxiety, worry, and depression, can increase pain by affecting the central control trigger, thus opening the gate.