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Specificity Theory And Pattern Theory For The Perception Of Pain

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The gate control theory has been a milestone in the field of pain research. It offered substantial help in ending a century-old debate between specificity theory and pattern theory for the perception of pain. Specificity theory believes that there exist specific pain receptors that transmit distinct signals to the brain while pattern theory holds that afferent fibers respond to a host of stimulus modalities, and that the ultimate perception depends on the brain’s deciphering and interpretation of the patterns of activity across the different nerve fibers. The gate Control theory attempted to incorporate both schools of thought within its analogy. By stating that there are distinctive fibres for different signal transmission, it echoed the
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“Pain” by Diane Ackerman is a story about pain. The author describes how people can withstand pain, and how difficult it is to define pain “which may be sharp, dull, shooting, throbbing, imaginary” (301). Culture and tradition are very important on people lives. Therefore, many of them do incredible things, in Istanbul for example “teenage boys dressed in shiny silk fezzes and silk suits decorated with glitter” (300), or in Bali people “go into trances and pick up red-hot cannonballs from an open fire, than carry them down the road” (298). This is just couple examples of controlling our body.

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The purpose of my paper is to discuss the history of Congenital Analgesia and its presence in the human body. Congenital Analgesia, also referred to as Congenital Insensitivity to Pain or CIP, is a rare neurological disorder of the nervous system that prevents a person from being able to feel pain. Congenital Analgesia results from the “lack of ion channels that transport sodium across sensory nerves. Without these channels, nerve cells are unable to communicate pain” (Hamzelou, 2015, p. 1). While the body does not respond to extreme changes in temperature or bodily harm and damage, those with Congenital Analgesia can still process normal sensations such as body-to-body contact or joint movement.

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Concept Analysis Paper of Pain Concept analysis combined with theory development is essential in the field of nursing as it leads to the clarification of concepts. This means that the approach establishes similarities and dissimilarities between ideas. As a result, precision is achieved within nursing through clearer definitions of terms. Pain is the concept under analysis, and it is central to the practice of nursing. This concept was selected because it is an experience that is perceived subjectively and it is also hard to quantify.

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