gate control theory of pain

 gate control theory of pain

1.chapter five questions : Discussion bored: Explain in your own words in detail the gate control theory of pain. Give an example of intense pain (activation of fast fibers) and an example of dull pain (activation of slow fibers) from your own life Critical thinking for chapter 5: .Please watch the short video and take notes while watching it. How does the video relate to the chapter? Explain in detail how the video relates to the chapter.

Explain at least three (3) concepts that pertain particularly to this chapter. What information did you learn in the video that was not discussed in your chapter? If there are two videos posted for your chapter, you are only required to select one video and write your critical thinking response on it. Thank you!

It took many years until 1965 before Melzack and Wall developed their so-called Gate control theory of pain, understanding that how a person thinks about their pain, how they conceptualise their pain, beliefs about their condition will certainly affect their pain experience. If you can intervene on that level and teach patients strategies of how they can shut the gate by changing the way they think about it for example, not to catastrophise about the pain condition that they’re going to be in a wheelchair in five years’ time and also to provide patients with strategies and tools of how to deal with their social situation, how to deal with mood, anxiety, how to deal with occupational stresses in relation to the pain. All these things can help them to shut the gate. The more a patient focuses on their pain experience and the more they scan their body for any changes in the pain, the more the entire system, mind and body, will amplify the pain experience. I think the Gate theory still holds a lot of value for us, not only in terms of the way we think but also in the way that we can explain to our patients a viable model, if you like. I think the idea of a model where you’ve got, if you like, a way of… you can send unpleasant information up but you can also send messages down which are going to modulate and control that is very appealing. What does the gate control theory say?

The gate control theory suggests that the signals encounter ‘nerve gates’ at the level of the spinal cord and they need to get cleared through these gates to reach the brain. Various factors determine how the pain signals should be treated at the neurological gates. They are:

• The intensity of the pain signals
• The intensity of the other sensory signals (touch, temperature and pressure), if generated at the site of injury
• The message from the brain itself (to send the pain signals or not)

As already mentioned, the nerve fibers, large and small, carrying the sensory signals, end in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord from where the signals are transmitted to the brain. According to the original postulate of Melzack and Wall, the nerve fibers project to the substantia gelatinosa (SG) of the dorsal horn and the first central transmission (T) cells of the spinal cord. The SG consists of inhibitory interneurons that act as the gate and determine which signals should reach the T cells and then go further through the spinothalamic tract to reach the brain.

Chapt 5

Top-down processing

The perception of objects is due to the complex analysis of prior experiences and expectations within the brain; this analysis influences how sensory receptors process stimulus input from the environment.

When the pain signals carried by the small fibers (A-delta and C fibers) are less intense compared to the other non-pain sensory signals like touch, pressure and temperature, the inhibitory neurons prevent the transmission of the pain signals through the T cells. The non-pain signals override the pain signals and thus the pain is not perceived by the brain. When the pain signals are more intense compared to the non-pain signals, the inhibitory neurons are inactivated and the gate is opened. The T cells transmit the pain signals to the spinothalamic tract that carries those signals to the brain. As a result, the neurological gate is influenced by the relative amount of activity in the large and the small nerve fibers.

2.discussion bored for chapter 6: the question are : According to Dr. Bandura there are three ways we learn through watching others. What are those three ways? Explain each of the three in detail. Then provide me with an original example of these three types of learning from your own life experience. Finally, explain Dr. Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study. Why was this study important? Please explain how this study relates to children today. Critical thinking for chapter 6 question: Please watch the short video and take notes while watching it. How does the video relate to the chapter? Explain in detail how the video relates to the chapter. Explain at least three (3) concepts that pertain particularly to this chapter. What information did you learn in the video that was not discussed in your chapter? If there are two videos posted for your chapter, you are only required to select one video and write your critical thinking response on it. Thank you! the videos I uploaded TOP-DOWN VISUAL PROCESSING for chapter 5. for chapter 6 video the differences between classical and operant conditioning – peggy andover please read the questions.

2.Why is it that humans react to stimuli with certain behaviors? Can behaviors change in response to consequences? Dr. Andover explains how the brain associates unrelated stimuli & responses, proved by Pavlov’s 1890 experiments, & how reinforcement & punishment can result in changed behavior

When we think about learning, we often picture students in a classroom or lecture hall, books open on their desks, listening intently to a teacher or professor in the front of the room. But in psychology, learning means something else. To psychologists, learning is a long-term change in behavior that’s based on experience. Two of the main types of learning are called classical conditioning and operant, or instrumental, conditioning. Let’s talk about classical conditioning first. In the 1890’s, a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov did some really famous experiments on dogs. He showed dogs some food and rang a bell at the same time. After a while, the dogs would associate the bell with the food. They would learn that when they heard the bell, they would get fed. Eventually, just ringing the bell made the dogs salivate. They learned to expect food at the sound of a bell. You see, under normal conditions, the sight and smell of food causes a dog to salivate. We call the food an unconditioned stimulus, and we call salivation the unconditioned response. Nobody trains a dog to salivate over some steak. However, when we pair an unconditioned stimulus like food with something that was previously neutral, like the sound of a bell, that neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus. And so classical conditioning was discovered. We see how this works with animals, but how does it work with humans? In exactly the same way. Let’s say that one day you go to the doctor to get a shot. She says, “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit,” and then gives you the most painful shot you’ve ever had. A few weeks later you go to the dentist for a check-up. He starts to put a mirror in your mouth to examine your teeth, and he says, “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.” Even though you know the mirror won’t hurt, you jump out of the chair and run, screaming from the room. When you went to get a shot, the words, “This won’t hurt a bit,” became a conditioned stimulus when they were paired with pain of the shot, the unconditioned stimulus, which was followed by your conditioned response of getting the heck out of there. Classical conditioning in action. Operant conditioning explains how consequences lead to changes in voluntary behavior. So how does operant conditioning work? There are two main components in operant conditioning: reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcers make it more likely that you’ll do something again, while punishers make it less likely. Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative, but this doesn’t mean good and bad. Positive means the addition of a stimulus, like getting dessert after you finish your veggies, and negative means the removal of a stimulus, like getting a night of no homework because you did well on an exam. Let’s look at an example of operant conditioning. After eating dinner with your family, you clear the table and wash the dishes. When you’re done, your mom gives you a big hug and says, “Thank you for helping me.” In this situation, your mom’s response is positive reinforcement if it makes you more likely to repeat the operant response, which is to clear the table and wash the dishes. Operant conditioning is everywhere in our daily lives. There aren’t many things we do that haven’t been influenced at some point by operant conditioning. We even see operant conditioning in some extraordinary situations. One group of scientists showed the power of operant conditioning by teaching pigeons to be art connoisseurs. Using food as a positive reinforcer, scientists have taught pigeons to select paintings by Monet over those by Picasso. When showed works of other artists, scientists observed stimulus generalization as the pigeons chose the Impressionists over the Cubists. Maybe next they’ll condition the pigeons to paint their own masterpieces.

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he Process of classical conditioning

1.An unconditioned stimulus automatically elicits an unconditioned response (example: food elicits salivation in dogs)
2.A conditioned stimulus elicits no/irrelevant response (example: a tone/chime elicits no response in dog)
3.During conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus which elicits the unconditioned response (tone/chime followed by food causes dog to salivate)
4.After conditioning, conditioned stimulus elicits conditioned response (tone/chime causes dog to salivate)

neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

nditioned stimulus

In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response.