Pain and the Conscious Brain

Description

This book brings together more than 30 international leaders from multiple fields to link the complex concept of pain to the equally complex notion of consciousness. Offering a clear, cutting-edge understanding of the brain mechanisms that generate the conscious experience of pain, this book scientifically addresses the difficult and chronic pains that often have no known physical cause and can defy comprehension in terms of current pain theories. Numerous tables, full-color figures, and up-to-date references highlight expert coverage of today’s gradual paradigm shift from peripheral receptors to the intricacy of the brain and the experience of the self.

Beginning with a solid introduction to consciousness and pain, this unique volume covers neurobiological aspects of the pain experience during psycho-physiological changes of the conscious state, pain processing in psychiatric and neurological disorders affecting consciousness, specific clinical populations, and the future of pain and consciousness research. Key topics include cortical imaging of pain in humans, pain perception during sleep, pharmacologic approaches to pain and consciousness using functional neuroimaging, hypnosis, mindfulness and meditation, pain and consciousness in infants, recognizing pain in dementia, the role of vision in pain perception, robot pain, and more.

Table of Contents

1. Front Cover
2. Dedication
3. Half Title Page
4. Title Page
5. Copyright Page
6. Contributors
7. Foreword
8. Preface
9. Contents
10. An Introduction to Consciousness and Pain From Being Awake to Being Aware
11. Neurobiological Bases of Coma, Vegetative, and Minimal Conscious States
12. Neurobiological Mechanisms of Conscious Access and Implications for Pain Perception
13. Pain and the Spatial Boundaries of the Bodily Self
14. Cortical Imaging of Pain in Humans: A Journey from Nociception to Compassion
15. Modulating Pain by Modulating Consciousness Neurobiological Aspects of the Pain Experience during Psychophysiological Changes of the Conscious State
16. Pain Perception during Sleep
17. Pharmacological Approaches to Pain and Consciousness Using Functional Neuroimaging
18. Hypnosis and Pain Modulation
19. Mindfulness Meditation Modulates the Conscious Experience of Pain: A Neuroscientific Account
20. Consciousness, Placebo, and Nocebo Effects on Pain
21. Clinical Conditions Affecting Pain and Consciousness Pain Processing in Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders Affecting Consciousness
22. Pain and Nociception in Disorders of Consciousness
23. Pain and Consciousness in Infants
24. Recognizing Pain in Dementia
25. Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind: The Role of Vision in Pain Perception
26. Behind and Beyond the Consciousness of Pain
27. Attention, Emotions, and Pain
28. The Neuroevolutionary Sources of Consciousness and Affect
29. Robot Pain: A Speculative Review of Its Functions
30. Index