The Sense of Pain - Explained

  • Published3 Jan 2017
  • Reviewed3 Jan 2017
  • Source BrainFacts/SfN

Touch a hot pan and you’ll reflexively withdraw your hand. That’s because a special type of pain-sensing nerves transmits a jolt of pain, which acts like a warning signal to prevent further injury. Learn more about pain in this video from the 2016 Brain Awareness Video Contest.

CONTENT PROVIDED BY

BrainFacts/SfN

Related Topics Pain Touch Thinking, Sensing & Behaving

Also In Pain

Man holding shoulder in pain
Pain, Placebo, and the Pipeline to New Drugs
Purple Brain
Tapping Into the Brain’s Natural Systems for Controlling Stress and Pain
View of a lounge during a migraine
Getting to the Root of Migraines
Cartoon woman holding head
How Do Tight Muscles Trigger Headaches?
Yellow silhouette of head of blue background
Why Doesn’t the Brain Have Nociceptors?
woman with barbell on shoulders
Why Does Exercise Cause Muscle Pain?

Trending

Popular articles on BrainFacts.org

  1. https://www.brainfacts.org/-/media/Brainfacts2/Diseases-and-Disorders/Mental-Health/Article-Images/Depression-and-Memory-Thumbnail.png
    Depression’s Impact on Memory
  2. https://www.brainfacts.org/-/media/Brainfacts2/Neuroscience-in-Society/Neuroscience-in-the-News/blood-clot.jpg
    ICYMI: COVID-19 Linked to Blood Clots and Strokes
  3. https://www.brainfacts.org/-/media/Brainfacts2/Brain-Anatomy-and-Function/Anatomy/Article-Images/Neuron-Illustration.jpg
    The Neuron
  4. https://www.brainfacts.org/-/media/Brainfacts2/Diseases-and-Disorders/Mental-Health/Article-Images/AAE-Anxiety-Thumb.png
    What Part of the Brain Deals With Anxiety? What Can Brains Affected by Anxiety Tell us?
  5. https://www.brainfacts.org/-/media/Brainfacts2/Brain-Anatomy-and-Function/Genes-and-Molecules/Article-Images/proteins-that-balance-our-moods-IOTW-image.jpg
    Proteins That Balance Our Moods

Brain Awareness Video Contest

Submit a short video about any neuroscience topic for a chance to win $4,000 and a trip to SfN's Annual Meeting!

Learn More

Best of BrainFacts Newsletter

Our editors' picks from this month's articles.

SIGN UP

Find a Neuroscientist

Engage local scientists to educate your community about the brain.

Search

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Some pages on this website provide links that require Adobe Reader to view.

Copyright © Society for Neuroscience