What we would like you to do is to find a topic from this week's chapter that you were interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find a video clip that demonstrates something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. Please be sure to use at least 3 quality resources. If you use videos, please limit it to one video.
Once you have completed your search and explorations we would like you to:
1a) State what your topic is.
1b) Discuss how the topic relates to the chapter.
1c) Discuss why you are interested in it.
2) Next, we would like you to take the information you read or viewed related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about the topic in a knowledgeable manner. By integrating/synthesizing we mean taking what your read/experienced from the internet search organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using the information you have about the topic.
3) List the terms you used from the text and from your reference websites.
4) At the end of your post, please include working URLs for the three websites. For each URL you have listed indicate why you chose the site and the extent to which it contributed to your post.
I chose to look into phantom limb pain. This topic was briefly discussed in the chapter. Although I had heard of it before I was curious to learn more about how it occurs and if there are ways to treat phantom limb pain.
Phantom limb pain occurs when a person has a limb or part of a limb amputated and after surgery has feelings in the area that has been amputated. Generally this is divided into two categories. There is phantom limb sensation that is likened to tingling, prickly, numbness, hot or cold or simply as though there is movement in the missing toes or fingers. It can even be as simple as feeling like the limb is still there or is getting shorter. The second is phantom limb pain. The pain is described as sharp or shooting, achy, burning and even cramping feelings.
It used to be that doctors believed that this phenomenon was purely psychological. Further research into it has revealed that the sensations and pain is very real. Doctors believe that the sensations come from the spinal cord and brain. Phantom pain is most common in people who have lost a limb but can also occur in people who have had other body parts removed, for example breast or eye. Some people experience pain only a short period of time after the surgery but others have a more difficult time for a longer period.
Phantom pain has some general characteristics; it is usually felt within a few days of the amputation. However some people experience pain constantly where others report pain that comes and goes. The pain can be triggered by pressure on the remaining part of the limb but also emotional stress can lead to the pain.
Although doctors believe that the cause of the pain comes from the brain and spinal cord they are not entirely clear on what causes it to occur. They have been able to see activity in the portion of the brain that had been neurologically connected to the nerves in the amputated limb in tests like MRIs and PET scans. The activity is seen when the person experiences the phantom pain. Some doctors think that the pain is in response to mixed signals from the brain. Once the area is amputated the brain and spinal cord do not receive sensory information from that area. The brain then believes that something is not right and triggers pain. There are also studies showing that once a limb is amputated the brain attempts to remap that part of the sensory circuit to a different area of the body. This could be that the information is referred to a cheek that is still present instead of the missing hand or foot. This means that when the cheek is touched it is also like the missing part is touched. Since this is another type of tangle sensory wires the result is often pain. Other factors in play include, damaged nerve endings, scar tissue at the surgical site and sometimes just the physical memory of pre-amputation pain in the area.
Not everyone who has an amputation experiences this phenomenon. It is estimated that a great majority however do experience it at some level, most information I found stated around 80% of amputees reported some type of pain following surgery. There are risk factors that some believe puts certain amputees at greater risk of pain. Individuals who experience pain in the limb prior to amputation are very likely to have the pain after surgery. This could be because the brain remembers the pain and continues to send the signals after the limb is removed. People who have continual pain in the stump generally have phantom pain as well. Even a prosthesis that doesn't fit well can trigger the phantom pain.
Treatment options vary as does the type and severity of the pain. Normally doctors begin with medications, then therapies like acupuncture, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). If these do not provide relief injections and implanted devices may be used. Occasionally as a last resort surgery is an option. There are a variety of medications used from anti-depressants to narcotics. I found the therapies very interesting.
The TENS device sends weak electrical current through adhesive patches on the skin near the painful area. The current is used to interrupt or mask the pain signals and prevent them from reaching the brain. The mirror box is a device with mirrors that make it appear that the amputated limb exists. The box has two openings one for the intact limb and one for the stump. Although this is used successfully it is not probably an option for someone who has both limbs amputated. The reason I found this one so fascinating is that basically it uses one area of perception to help redirect another of our senses that is experiencing a defect. It really shows how the brain controls the aspects of vision as well as touch and how they can work together to repair each other.
Terms: phantom limb pain, psychological, amputation, neurologically, MRI, PET scan, sensory information, sensory circuit
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/phantom-pain/basics/definition/con-20023268
This is several pages long and goes in depth in a lot of areas
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000050.htm
Although this site was very brief it had a great list arrangement
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=88097
This was about mirror therapy
http://www.livescience.com/27641-phantom-pain-linked-to-brain-mapping.html
This site was one that contained a statistic of occurrence
This week for my topical blog I chose to look further into tactile defensiveness. I chose to look further into this topic because the book only talks about tactile receptors in the fact that touch is housed in one of human organs the skin. It also talks about touch receptors being embedded all over the body in both hair and hairless as well as within our mouth muscles tendons and joints. But the book never goes into those who may suffer from a tactile disorder or what in particular a tactile disorder may be. I am always looking into new disorders and have realized that I have never actually taken the time to learn about a disorder that deals with touch. So with this being said this week I have chosen to look further into tactile defensiveness.
The most common type of sensory defensiveness is tactile defensiveness (TD) which is the tendency to react negatively and emotionally to touch sensations. Children who have TD are sensitive to touch sensations and can easily be overwhelmed by, and fearful of ordinary daily experiences and activities. Tactile or touch receptors are found throughout the skin and are activated by stimuli such as texture, temperature, pressure, and pain. Studies show that the sense of touch is actually present before a person is even born and many believe that it continues to be more critical to human functioning that it was originally recognized. Famous researchers such as Piaget, Goldstein have all talked about the importance of touch in cognitive and motor development. It was originally believed that TD was caused by a disparity between protective tactile function and discriminative tactile functions. A child who has TD, the protective system predominates over the discriminative system resulting in a harmless stimuli being interpreted as being harmful. Which then will make the child react in a negative manner. This is because it triggers the brains flight or fight senses and if the child is perceiving the tactile experience to be negative even though it may really not be the child may go into fight mode. But more recent studies show tactile defensiveness to a faulty behavioral inhibition system. The actual cause of TD is unknown but many have showed it to be related to genetic predisposition prenatal issues like chemical use or other trauma during birth, it could also be related to the prenatal care that the mother provided (drugs, diet, etc).Tactile defensiveness it is known that it interferes with learning, perceptual motor ability and most noticeably behaviors. Most times behaviors are shown to be hyperactivity, avoidance of certain situations, and emotional outbursts. Sensory defensiveness can prevent a child from play and interactions critical to learning and social interactions. Most of the time children who suffer from tactile defensiveness will avoid touching, or become bother by or fearful of textured materials, “messy” things, vibrating toys, hugs, kisses, certain clothing textures, rough or bumpy bed sheets, light touch, hands or face being dirty, shoes and/or sandals, bare feet touching grass or sand. If these children do touch these certain items they may only use their fingertips, which limits their play and so is their ability to engage in learning experiences. This can also then result to the child then suffering from other disorders like social anxiety, isolation, and depression.
This is not the child’s fault it is really all about how their nervous system interprets a tactile stimulus. Do not blame the child but yet be supportive and assist them to get the treatment that they need. There is treatment for sensory processing disorders related to tactile defensiveness, most children start with occupational therapy with sensory integration. This may include using the wilbarger brushing protocol or desensitization with exposure to lots of varying tactile stimuli, they may also use deep pressure/weighted products. But the most suggestive treatment to start out with is having the child in occupational therapy as they need to have the underlying sensory defensiveness addressed in order to achieve proper developmental milestones and have correct social interactions. It is not something that will just “go away” on it’s own.
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/tactile-defensiveness.html- This webpage was easier for me to understand as there was not so much information they really just got to the point and were able to explain the disorder in a manner at which I actually understood.
http://www.child-behavior-guide.com/tactile-dysfunction.html This website gave me a better understanding of the different treatments and symptoms that a child may go through also helped me to understand the maind deffinition. \
http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005davichj.pdf This study was very complex and hard to understand. I found the information very well written but it was hard for me to find information that I actually understood. Although I did understand the article the third time I read it after using the other two webpages to help me better have a base understanding of the disorder.
Terms: tactile defensiveness, touch receptors, sensory defensiveness, Tactile receptors, cognitive and motor development, discriminative tactile functions, protective tactile function, behavioral inhibition system, and wilbarger brushing protocol.
1a. The topic from chapter thirteen that I decided to do further research on was tactile agnosia. It is a deficit that results in the inability to recognize objects by touch after damage to the contralateral parietal lobe. It is a rare disorder that has not been researched further than limited case studies and hypothesized causes.
1b. This topic relates well to chapter thirteen because it is closely related to the sensation and perception of touch. It is a touch related deficit that affects an individuals ability to recognize objects by touch alone. This marked inability has many implications for daily functioning and survival.
1c. I am interested in this specific topic because I think disorders and deficits that alter sensation and perception are very interesting and hold unlimited amounts of information about the power and function of our brain. I think it is important to research topics such as tactile agnosia to search for cures for the people suffering from the deficits as well as to discover brain areas that we are currently unaware of.
2. Tactile Agnosia is a deficit of the brain that results in an individuals inability to recognize objects by touch. Specifically, it is the result of damage to the contralateral parietal lobe which is associate with touch neurons. A study by Davis et al. looked at the relation between tactile agnosia and Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, the researchers were interested in the predictive value of tactile agnosia for development of Alzheimer's by assessing motor and sensory neurological decline. The results showed that patients with alzheimer's disease had significantly higher levels of tactile agnosia and adversely, the presence of these disturbances in tactile ability were able to predict future issues with the degenerative disease. The researchers used tests that assessed cognitive ability, fluid reasoning and short term memory to make these assessments. I think these results are worth noting and performing further research on because they show a significant relation between the development of agnosia and Alzheimer's that could provide important information on brain function and treatment options. It is interesting that a deficit related to touch could be connected to the development of a degenerative disease that wipes away memories. Additionally, this research provides intriguing evidence that the brain structures involved with degenerative neurological disease are also involved with touch deficits.
Another article by Reed et al. looked at the impairments and implications after being diagnosed with tactile agnosia. Spatial ability was tested and patients with tactile agnosia were not any different than individuals without the deficit which suggests the issue begins at a higher level of perceptual processing. The research also suggested that the impairment is only at the level of shape perception and does not affect the ability to recognize where an object is located. Lastly, the research suggested that individuals with tactile agnosia are able to assess metric length and can perform normal manual exploration with an object but they struggle to perceive objects as the shape complexity increases. This research has important implications for tactile agnosia because it identifies specific areas of struggle for individuals with this deficit and also provides criteria for diagnosing someone with this neurological issue. I think it is vitally important that research like this is done because it sets the criteria for diagnosis and allows physicians and researchers to identify areas of the brain that could be responsible for the development of the deficit.
Lastly, a case study by Nakamura et al. closely followed an individual who experienced tactile agnosia symptoms. The patient was a 64 year old male that experienced tactile agnosia recognition deficits. Further assessment showed that the patient had a bilateral lesion in the subcortical region of the angular gyrus and this resulted in the inability to create semantic association with objects. This research provided very important information that suggests that tactile agnosia occurs when the somatosensory association cortex is disconnected from the semantic memory area located in the inferior temporal lobe by a lesion in the angular cortex. This research is extremely important because it suggests the specific brain structures and the location where the deficit becomes physically evident in patients. I like research like this the most because it points out parts of the brain associated with diseases and also identifies brain parts that may have been previously unknown. The human brain is still a mystery to researchers and neuroscientists because of the complex and intricate ways it facilitates and motivates human behavior and physiology. It is a huge breakthrough every time these scientists are able to place a brain structure with a physiological outcome or behavior so I enjoy reading about deficits and the brain. I hope continued research will look into these suggestions. Overall, tactile agnosia is a neurological and touch deficit that has not been researched to the fullest extent. Further research should be performed to assess the implications of this deficit and the brain structures directly or indirectly involved.
Terms: tactile agnosia, contralateral parietal lobe, sensation, perception, Alzheimer's disease, metric length, semantic associations, somatosensory association cortex, inferior temporal lobe,
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=375dc80d-9cce-410d-9a5b-533793ad1e6d%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4201&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2010-25689-004 I chose this article because it provided interesting information about the relation between tactile agnosia and Alzheimer's disease. It helped my post by associating the touch deficit with a degenerative disease that most people are aware of.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8673499 I chose to use this article because it discussed interesting impairments and implications of tactile agnosia. This contributed to my post because it gives the reader an idea of the symptoms and side effects of the neurological deficit.
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=f11456ec-a41b-4cf6-a8dc-1eac208dd757%40sessionmgr110&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=1998-10058-004 I chose this article because it provided information on a case study of an individual experiencing tactile agnosia. It contributed to my blog because it gives information about a real person experiencing the deficit.
For this week’s topical blog assignment, I chose to do a little more research on Phantom limbs. While reading through this chapter and coming up on this topic, I have been almost obsessing over this topic. I have heard of this topic and have known a little about, but I wanted to learn more. I wanted to know if there are any other symptoms or treatment options for this condition. A Phantom limb is defined as a sensation perceived from a physically amputated limb of the body.
The term phantom limb is a relatively new term, originally doctors referred this condition to post-amputation phenomenon which was a psychological problem, but now experts recognize that these real sensations originate in the spinal cord and brain. Although phantom pain occurs most often in people who've had an arm or leg removed, the disorder may also occur after surgeries to remove other body parts, such as the breast, penis, eye or tongue. For some people, phantom pain gets better over time without treatment. For others, managing phantom pain can be challenging. You and your doctor can work together to treat phantom pain effectively with medication or other therapies.
Phantom limb sensations may include feelings of coldness, warmth, or itchiness or tingling but should not be confused with phantom pain. Similarly, pain from the remaining stump of an amputated limb is not phantom pain. By definition, phantom pain feels as if the pain comes from a body part that no longer remains. On rare occasions, people that are born with missing limbs can have the sensation of a phantom limb.
The exact cause of phantom pain is unclear, but it appears to originate in the spinal cord and brain. During imaging scans such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET), portions of the brain that had been neurologically connected to the nerves of the amputated limb show activity when the person feels phantom pain.
Many experts believe phantom pain may be partially explained as a response to mixed signals from the brain. After an amputation, areas of the spinal cord and brain lose input from the missing limb and adjust to this detachment in unpredictable ways. The result can trigger the body's most basic message that something is not right; indicating pain. Studies also show that after an amputation the brain may remap that part of the body's sensory circuitry to another part of the body. In other words, because the amputated area is no longer able to receive sensory information, the information is referred elsewhere from a missing hand to a still-present cheek, for example. So when the cheek is touched, it's as though the missing hand also is being touched. Because this is yet another version of tangled sensory wires, the result can be pain. A number of other factors are believed to contribute to phantom pain, including damaged nerve endings, scar tissue at the site of the amputation and the physical memory of pre-amputation pain in the affected area.
Since there is no medical test to diagnose phantom pain, doctors can identify the condition by collecting information about your symptoms and the circumstances, such as trauma or surgery, which occurred before the pain started. Describing your pain precisely can help your doctor pinpoint your problem. Even though it's common to have phantom pain and stump pain at the same time, treatments for these two problems may differ.
Finding a treatment to relieve your phantom pain can be difficult. Doctors usually begin with medications and then may add noninvasive therapies, such as acupuncture or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
Some of the medications listed here are another method for treatment: antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or narcotics. As with medications, treating phantom pain with noninvasive therapies is a matter of trial and observation. The following techniques may relieve phantom pain: Nerve stimulation: a procedure called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), a device sends a weak electrical current via adhesive patches on the skin near the area of pain. This may interrupt or mask pain signals, preventing them from reaching your brain. Mirror Box: this device contains mirrors that make it look like an amputated limb exists. The mirror box has two openings, one for the intact limb and one for the stump.The person then performs symmetrical exercises, while watching the intact limb move and imagining that he or she is actually observing the missing limb moving. Studies have found that this exercise may help relieve phantom pain. Acupuncture: the National Institutes of Health has found that acupuncture can be an effective treatment for some types of chronic pain. In acupuncture, the practitioner inserts extremely fine, sterilized stainless steel needles into the skin at specific points on the body. It's thought that acupuncture stimulates your central nervous system to release the body's natural pain-relieving endorphins. Acupuncture is generally considered safe when performed correctly. Surgery is done only as a last resort.
Minimally Invasive Therapies include: Injections: injecting pain-killing medications , local anesthetics, steroids or both into the stump can provide relief of phantom limb pain. Spinal cord stimulation: insertion of tiny electrodes along your spinal cord. A small electrical current delivered to the spinal cord can sometimes relieve pain. Nerve Blocks: this method uses medications that interrupt pain messages between the brain and the site of the phantom pain.
Surgery is usually the last resort method to stop limb pain, the procedures are: Brain stimulation: deep brain stimulation and motor cortex stimulation are similar to spinal cord stimulation except that the current is delivered within the brain. Stump revision or neurectomy. If phantom pain is triggered by nerve irritation in the stump, surgical resection or revision can sometimes be helpful. But cutting nerves also carries the risk of making the pain worse.
Learning to live without a limb, especially if you
have phantom pain, can be challenging. Depression often accompanies pain. You may find it helpful to talk to a counselor or therapist; in person or online support groups. Every person experiences this trauma differently, it is usually in the hands of the patient and the doctor to determine what healing path that patient uses.
References:
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-a-Phantom-Limb.aspx I chose this website for the information on treatments.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/pain/microsite/medicine2.html I chose this website to help differentiate between phantom limb and phantom pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4FZtE-Lz2U I chose this website for the visual representation on amputees experiencing Phantom limb syndrome.
TERMS: Phantom limbs, post-amputation phenomenon, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), sensory, spinal cord, perception, sensation
I decided to do my research topic on phantom limb pain. This topic was talked about in the chapter and I found it to be really interesting. I’m interested in finding out if there are ways to treat this considering we know the cause of it.
The first medical post-amputation sensation was given by a French military surgeon, who noticed that patients may complain of severe pain in the missing limb following amputation. He characterized the post-amputation syndrome and proposed different models to explain the pain. Therefore he coined the term “phantom pain.” In modern times, traumatic amputations originating in World War 1 and 2, Vietnam and Israeli wars from landmine explosions all over the world were a tragic cause of phantom pain. Other reasons for amputation and phantom pain are peripheral vascular disease and neoplasms. Today, virtually all amputees experience phantom sensations, painful or not, after limb amputation.
Non-painful phantom sensations rarely pose a clinical problem. However, in some amputees, the phantom becomes the site of severe pain, which may be exceedingly difficult to treat. A larger number of different treatments have been suggested but the vast majority of studies concerning the treatment of phantom pain are based on small groups with no controls. A clear and rational treatment regimen is difficult to establish as long as the underlying pathophysiology is not fully known. The development of animal models mimicking neuropathic pain, together with research in other neuropathic pain conditions, have contributed significantly to our understanding of phantom pain. It’s clear now that nerve injury is followed by a series of changes In the peripheral and the central nervous system and that these changes may play a role in the induction and maintenance of chronic phantom pain.
Phantom limb pain refers to mild to extreme pain felt in the area where a limb has been amputated. Phantom limb pain usually will disappear or at least decrease over time, but when phantom limb pain continues for more than six months, the prognosis for improvement is poor. Although the limb is no longer there, the nerve endings at the site of the amputation continues to send pain signals to the brain that make the brain think the limb is still there. Sometimes, the brain memory of pain is retained and is interpreted as pain, regardless of signals from injured nerves. (I think this is incredibly interesting). Doctors once believed this post-amputation phenomenon was a psychological problem, but experts now recognize that these real sensations originate in the spinal cord and brain. Although phantom pain occurs most often in people who’ve had an arm or leg removed, the disorder may also occur after surgeries remove other body parts, such as the breast, tongue, or eye. For some people, pain gets better over time without treatment. For others, managing phantom pain can be challenging.
In addition to pain in the phantom limb, some people experience other sensations such as tingling, cramping, heat, and cold in the portion of the limb that was removed. Any sensation that the limb could have experienced prior to the amputation may be experienced in the amputated phantom limb. Successful treatment of phantom limb pain is difficult. Treatment is usually determined based on the person’s level of pain, and multiple treatments may be combined. These treatments may be heat application, biofeedback to reduce muscle tension, relaxation techniques, massage of the amputation area, injections with local anesthetics or steroids, nerve blocks, surgery to remove scar tissue entangling a nerve, physical therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation of the stump, which is when neurostimulation techniques such as spinal cord stimulation or deep brain stimulation is used, or medications such as pain-relievers, neuroleptics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, beta-blockers, and sodium channel blockers.
But very few amputees see success from these treatment strategies. So another researcher took it upon him to find a better treatment. Using muscle signals from the patient’s arm stump, Catalan was able to trigger a system called “augmented reality.” Explaining the process in detail, Catalan says the muscles in the arm stump send out electrical signals that are sensed by electrodes on the skin. Complex algorithms then translate these electrical signals into arm movements. On a computer screen, the patient was shown an arm that was superimposed onto his stump. He was able to control the movements of this arm using his own neural command in real time. After a period of treatment using this method, Catalan says the man how has periods where is completely free of pain. I thought this study was amazing.
URL: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/phantom-limb-pain
URL: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/phantom-pain/basics/definition/con-20023268
URL: http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/content/87/1/107.full
I chose these websites because they helped me get a better understanding on the subject and were able to look at different treatment plans, which is what I wanted to know more about.
Terms: Phantom limb pain, amputated, pain, increase, decrease, nerve endings, brain, limb, brain memory, retained, injured nerves, tingling, cramping, heat, cold, sensation, treatment, biofeedback, muscle tension, injections, anesthetics, steroids, nerve blocks, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, medications, neuroleptics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, beta-blockers, sodium channel blockers.
We have studied many different concepts in Sensation and Perception and reading this chapter I found one topic that I have always had an interest in. I chose to further research the concept of a placebo effect. A placebo effect is a decreasing pain sensation when people think they’re taking an analgesic drug but actually are not. It could be a pill, a shot, or some other type of "fake" treatment. I picked this particular article because I have always been fascinated with the idea of a fake treatment to really cure someone. I have researched placebo effects before and I have come across some pretty interesting research that can relate to this article and its findings. I expected to see that the placebo given to the group would result in some sort of healing or positive regard. This relates to the chapter because placebo pills, shots, or other forms of fake treatment are used all of the time to try and cure or help an individual’s problem.
Like I mentioned earlier, a placebo effect is a decreasing pain sensation when people think they’re taking an analgesic drug but actually are not. Endogenous opiates may be responsible for placebo effects. Endogenous opiates are chemicals released by the body that block the release or uptake of neurotransmitters necessary to transmit pain sensations to the brain. Another term that we have studied is analgesia. Analgesia is the act of decreasing the sensation of pain while one is still in the conscious experience. All of this relates to sensation and perception and builds off the placebo effect because we have the ability to trick our brains to do a lot of different things. It amazes me that we have the power to alter our conscious experiences in a way to take away a negative energy.
The placebo looks, tastes, and/or feels just like the actual treatment, so that the patient and doctor’s expectations don’t affect the outcomes. The placebo control makes it possible to “blind” patients and doctors to which treatment they’re getting. This is called a double-blind controlled study, and neither the volunteers taking part in the study nor their doctors know who’s getting which treatment. This study design helps avoid biases in measuring outcomes that can be caused by the researchers or the patients’ expectations about the treatment. This is used mostly in studies that require patient reporting for symptoms like depression, sleeplessness, or pain.
Research on the placebo effect has focused on the relationship of mind and body which is also known as the mind-body connection. One of the most common theories is that the placebo effect is due to a person's expectations. If a person expects a pill to do something, then it's possible that the body's own chemistry can cause effects similar to what a medication might have triggered. Experts also say that there is a relationship between how strongly a person anticipates having results and whether or not results occur. The stronger the feeling, the more likely it is that a person will experience positive effects. There may be a profound effect due to the collaboration between a patient and health care provider. The same appears to be true for negative effects. If people expect to have side effects such as headaches, nausea, or drowsiness, there is a greater chance of those responses happening. The fact that the placebo effect is tied to expectations doesn't make it imaginary or fake. Some studies show that there are actual physical changes that occur with the placebo effect. For instance, some studies have documented an increase in the body's production of endorphins, one of the body's natural pain relievers.
One problem with the placebo effect is that it can be difficult to differentiate from the actual effects of a real drug during a study. Finding ways to distinguish between the placebo effect and the effect of treatment can improve and lower the cost of drug testing. And more studies may also lead to ways to use the power of the placebo effect in treating disease.
Little to my knowledge, there is a term called the nocebo effect. The nocebo effect is when a person has more symptoms or side effects after a placebo. The nocebo effect is actually still being studied. As of now, researchers believe it may be partly explained by a substance in the body that sends messages through the nerves. When a person is stressed, for instance, the substance is activated and the person feels more pain than a person who isn’t stressed. The nocebo effect can be seen in the brain: brain-imaging studies have shown that pain is more intense when a person expects more pain than when they don’t. This is linked to changes in certain brain regions on the imaging studies.
This has been one of my favorite topics to study and I really enjoyed reading through all of the information the internet has about the placebo effect.
Terms: Placebo effect, sensation, perception, analgesia, endogenous opiate, neurotransmitters, conscious experience, nocebo effect, mind-body connection, side effect, symptom, nerves, double blind controlled study.
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/placebo-effect - I chose this website because it gave me a lot of information and named a few studies that the placebo effect was used in.
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect?page=2 – Every chance I get to use WebMD, I use it. It is always a very reliable source and it always has a lot of beneficial information to read on it.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31481 – This website helped build on the research of the placebo effect from the other websites and it gave me even more insight on the concept of the placebo effect.
The nose is interesting. We use it all day every day, without even noticing. I figured I would see what I can learn, hopefully something interesting. That’s mainly why I picked it.
The external nose consists of paired nasal bones and upper and lower lateral cartilages. Internally, the nasal septum divides the nasal cavity into a right and left side. The lateral nasal wall consists of inferior and middle turbinates, and sometimes a superior turbinate bone. The opening of the sinuses also is found under the middle turbinates on the lateral nasal wall. The lacrimal system drains into the nasal cavity below the anterior inferior portion of the inferior turbinates.
In contrast to vision and audition, but similar to touch and taste, the olfactory system is attached to an organ that serves another purpose. The primary function of the nose is to filter, warm and humidify the air that humans breathe. Inspired air is brought high into the nasal cavity to come in contact with the olfactory nerves, thereby providing the sense of smell, which is intimately associated with the taste sensation. The inside of the nose has small ridges that add turbulence to incoming air, called turbinates, causing a small puff of each breath to rise upward, pass through a narrow space and settle on a yellow mucous membrane called the olfactory epithelium. The olfactory epithelium is at the back of each nasal passage, approximately 2.75 inches up from the nostril, and is the retina of the nose. Each epithelium measures about 1 to 2 square inches and contains three types of cells: supporting cells, basal cells, olfactory sensory neurons (OSN’s). OSN’s are the main cell type, and are small neurons located beneath a watery mucous layer on the epithelium. The cilia on the OSN dendrites contain the receptor sites for odorant molecules.
The interaction between an odorant and the olfactory receptors stimulates a cascade of biochemical events, ultimately producing an action potential that is transmitted along the axon of the OSN to the olfactory bulb. In order to initiate an action potential, 7-8 odor molecules must bind to a receptor and it takes about 40 of these nerve impulses for a smell sensation to be reported. Olfactory nerve endings originate in the olfactory bulb under the frontal lobe and pass directly through the cribriform plate as second-order neurons entering the nasal cavity. Olfactory nerves are found on the superior portion of the septum, superior turbinates, and cribriform region.
The third, fourth, and fifth links listed below have helpful illustrations of the external and internal portions of the nose to better understand how smells enter our body and are perceived by our body and brain.
I enjoyed learning about the anatomy and physiology of the nose and appreciated the gained knowledge because I now have a greater understanding of how my body/brain perceive the smells around me to assist in identifying particular objects, people, restaurants, and even some events-like the Iowa State Fair.
Sources:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/874771-overview#
Nasal physiology
http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/question139.htm
Explains how the nose works, more or less
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/874771-overview#aw2aab6b3
Terms: nose, cartilage, septoplasty, nostril, congestion, smell, vision, audition, touch, taste, olfactory system, organ, turbinates, olfactory cleft, mucous membrane, olfactory epithelium, nasal passage, retina of the nose, supporting cells, basal cells, olfactory sensory neurons, OSNs, cilia, dendrites, receptor sites, olfactory receptors, action potential, axon, olfactory bulb, nerve impulses, inspired air, nasal bones, upper and lower lateral cartilages, nasal septum, nasal cavity, lateral nasal wall, inferior turbinates, middle turbinates, superior turbinate bone, sinuses, lacrimal system, olfactory nerve endings, frontal lobe, cribriform plate, septum
1a) The topic I chose to research is congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis.
1b) This chapter discussed touch and feeling. A huge aspect of feeling is pain. We feel pain when something has the potential to do damage, or is doing damage to our bodies. Throughout the chapter, the various dangers of not feeling pain are listed. This disorder causes an individual to feel no pain, unless the damage is around 100 times the pain threshold of a normal person.
1c) I am interested in this topic because pain is fascinating. Seeing someone in pain has always made me uncomfortable. It has even stopped me from pursuing a career in the health field. Pain is a universal concept, and it is almost unfathomable to think of a world without pain. I wanted to research what causes someone to live without pain, and how life without pain is lived.
2) Hereditory Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathies (HSAN) is a family of disorders with a commonality of insensitivity to pain. There are seven different disorders in this classification of disease. This post will discuss two of the of the most well known types in this family. The other type is HSAN II, or Congenital Sensory Neuropathy. The first of these are HSAN IV, or Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhydrosis (CIPA).
CIPA and CSN share many similar traits. All disorders of the HSAN family include some aspect of pain insensitivity. At first oversight, not feeling pain may seem to be a wondrous blessing. There would be no more headaches, painful injuries, and so on. However, pain serves a very important purpose. This purpose is to warn us of imminent damage to our bodies. This massive deficit in sensory perception often means countless unintentional injuries. Without the ability to sense pain, individuals may not realize when they are hurting themselves. For example, someone with this disorder may be resting their hand on a hot stove. If they do not sense the burning pain, they will not know to remove their hand. This means that their hand will have received a far more severe burn than if they felt the pain, and pulled their hand away straight away. Situations such as these, as well as an increased wear on the body, mean the life expectancies for these individuals are often shorter than average. Many patients are wheelchair-bound at a young age due to this extra wear on the body. The increased damage comes from joints. When someone feels tired or achy in their joints, they stop to rest until recovery. With the absence of pain, the joints do not get the rest they need.
Growing up with HSAN can be extremely difficult. While most young children going through the process of teething desire something to gnaw upon, children with HSAN II and IV may use their own tongues, fingers, and cheeks. A typical child may also use their tongues, fingers and cheeks, but a child feeling no pain would do so until the point of injury. In a repot by CNN, a young boy named Roberto chewed on his hands until he had open sores and bleeding. Another problem in growing up with CSN or CIPA is corneal abrasions. Children tend to rub their eyes. Children with these disorders may do so much to hard and cause damage to their eyes. One of the most worry some side effects is the absence of hunger pains. Roberto actually would not eat on his own, due to the fact that he simply was not hungry and did not feel the need to eat. His parents were forced to use drastic methods in order to get him the nutrition he needed.
The main difference between these disorders is the inability to sweat. In CIPA, the anhydrosis refers to this absence of function. Sweating is an important body regulatory system. It is responsible for cooling us down as our body heat increases. Without sweat, there is a very real possibility of overheating. Overheating can have devastating effects like febrile seizures, stroke, or death. The inability to sweat makes CIPA the most severe of the HSAN family. Sadly, around half of its victims die by the time they are three years old.
The cause of these disorders may lie in the peripheral nervous system. In a healthily functioning system, there are special nerve endings called nociceptors. These are the nerves responsible for feeling pain. Messages from the ends of nociceptors travel up to the brain, causing us to perceive pain. In people with an HSAN disorder, research suggests that there are a decreased amount of these nerve fibers. Therefore, while there is a message of pain, that message cannot make it to the brain without enough nerve fibers. Currently, there is no cure for any HSAN disorder. Thankfully, this debilitating group of disorders is very rare, and the chances of it affecting someone you know and love is slim.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/cipa.htm
I really liked this site because it had a lot of good information on a lot of the areas of study in HSAN disorders.
https://www.rarediseasesnetwork.org/INC/professional/disorders/HSAN/
This site gave a brief overview of each HSAN disorder, and was helpful for basic information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=270&v=m5B20VvzWqA
This video gave some insight on to what it is like for a young child with CIPA, as well as his family.
Terms: Hereditory Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathies; insensitivity; Congenital Sensory Neuropathy; Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhydrosis; Anhydrosis; perception; sensory; regulatory; febrile seizures; stroke; nociceptors; nerve fibers; peripheral nervous system; pain
(1a) My topic is Kinesthesis
(1b) This topic relates to the chapter because it talks about kinesthesis and how it percepts the position and movement of our limbs in space.
(1c) I was interested in this topic because I have had a lot of short comings and difficult times this year. And every time I get myself down or feel sorry for myself, I just always recognize that someone always has it worse than you. I also was interested in this topic because I take things for granted, like kinesthesis, and I love reading stories about people who have overcome and conquered the impossible.
(2) Kinesthesis or kinesthesia is the perception of body movements. It involves being able to detect change in position and movement without relying on information from the five or “six senses.” Physical activities such as walking, running, driving, dancing, swimming or anything that requires body movement is kinesthetic sense. Recognizing body location while standing in a dark room or when your eyes are closed requires kinesthetic sense. Receptors in the limbs send information to the brain about position and movement.
Ian Waterman was 19 years old when suddenly he was struck down at work by a rare neurological illness that deprived him of all sensation below the neck. He fell on the floor in an instant, and was unable to stand or control his limbs. He had lost the sense of joint position and proprioception of that “sixth sense,” which we all take for granted. After months of treatment in the neurological ward he was judge incurable and condemned to a life of a wheelchair. Jonathan Coles’ publication was the first book he had ever written as a physician. It tells a compelling story that includes a clear clinical description of the rare condition, of how Waterman reclaimed a life of full mobility against all odds, by sheer courage and mental toughness. Waterman was described to have gradually adapted to his rare condition. Doctors predicted no neurological recovery, and they had to monitor every movement by sight to work out where his limbs were, since he had no nerve feedback. But Waterman developed elaborate tricks and strategies to control his movements, providing him to not only cope with day to day problems but also to deal with the challenges of work, love, and marriage.
Everyday we use our kinesthetic senses all the time. When to duck to avoid an obstacle, whether to adjust a seat when entering a car, everything that requires movement, we use our kinesthetic senses. You often don’t think much about it, it is often a conscious thought action that is automatic and subconscious. This sense is taken for granted by most of us. It is very helpful to those who are blind or visually impaired. They use their kinesthetic send to help them get and stay oriented in certain familiar surroundings. Being born with no use of your kinesthesia actions is a tough task, never take it for granted. When you are down in the slumps just always remember that there is always someone who has it worse then you. Tomorrow is never promised so make the most of your time and do good things today and now because it could all be gone in an instant.
(3) kinesthesis,kinesthetic
(4) http://psychology.about.com/od/kindex/g/what-is-kinesthesis.htm
This website I used provided a more understandable and in depth definition of kinesthesis or kinesthesia.
http://www.thearticulatehand.com/ian.html
This website provided a life story of a man who was struck with the loss of kinesthesis
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-kinesthetic-sense-467107
I used this website because it acknowledged a lot of uses of kinesthesis and explains how we take it for granted.
1a) My topic for this week is analgesia and analgesic drugs
1b) Analgesia is a topic that was briefly discussed in chapter 13 on touch. It is the decreasing of pain sensation during conscious experience. Analgesic drugs are used to reduce pain as well and derive its name from analgesia.
1c) I am interested in this topic because I want to learn more about how analgesic drugs work and what makes them up. I also wanted to find out if people experience analgesia differently from person to person.
2) Analgesia is a condition which is characterized by an absence of pain. Most of the time people that experience this sensation do not have it for very long. In some rare cases a person can be diagnosed with congenital analgesia. Congenital analgesia is when a person cannot feel and has never felt any physical pain. For people with this disorder, cognition and sensation are otherwise normal. Patients can still feel discriminative touch, with the exception of temperature, and there are no detectable physical abnormalities. Children with this condition often suffer oral cavity damage both in and around the oral cavity or fractures to bones. What can happen is the child may bite the inside of their mouth or tongue and not realize they are hurt or bleeding. Unnoticed infections and corneal damage due to foreign objects in the eye are also seen. Because the child cannot feel pain, they may not respond to problems, thus being at a higher risk of more severe diseases.
Cause of congenital analgesia can be linked to certain mutations on neuropathways. This results in a shortened non-functional protein. Certain channels are expressed at high levels in nociceptive neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. As these channels are likely involved in the formation and circulation of action potentials in such neurons, it is expected that a loss of function mutation will lead to abolished nociceptive pain propagation. Developmental disorders such as autism can include varying degrees of pain insensitivity as a sign. However, since these disorders are characterized by dysfunction of the sensory system in general, this specific condition is not in itself an indicator of any of these conditions.
An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve analgesia; it is also referred to as a pain killer.
Analgesics are frequently used in combination, such as the paracetamol and codeine preparations found in many non-prescription pain relievers. They can also be found in combination with vasoconstrictor drugs such as pseudoephedrine for sinus-related preparations, or with antihistamine drugs for allergy sufferers. While the use of aspirin, ibuprofen, and other NSAIDS, which means non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, alongside with weak to mid-range opiates has been said to show beneficial synergistic effects by combatting pain at multiple sites of action. Paracetamol has few side-effects and is regarded as generally safe in low and infrequent doses as prescribed or per manufacturer's instructions, otherwise use can lead to potentially life-threatening liver damage and occasionally kidney damage. Several combination analgesic products have been shown to have few efficacy benefits when compared to similar doses of their individual components. This just means that most analgesic drugs are used in combination to get the desired degree of effect varying from patient to patient. In choosing analgesics, the severity and response to other medication determines the choice of agent. The World Health Organization (WHO) pain ladder specifies mild analgesics as its first step. Analgesic choice is also determined by the type of pain. For neuropathic pain, traditional analgesics are less effective, and there is often benefit from classes of drugs that are not normally considered analgesics, such as tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants.
Topical analgesia is generally recommended to avoid systemic side-effects. For example, painful joints may be treated with an ibuprofen. Drugs that have been introduced for uses other than analgesics are also used in pain management. Both first-generation and newer anti-depressants are used alongside NSAIDs and opioids for pain involving nerve damage and similar problems. Other agents directly potentiate the effects of analgesics, such as using hydroxyzine, promethazine, carisoprodol, or tripelennamine to increase the pain-killing ability of a given dose of opioid analgesic. The use of adjuvant analgesics is an important and growing part of the pain-control field and new discoveries are made every year. Many of these drugs combat the side-effects of opioid analgesics. There is still a lot of debate among people whether or not these drugs actually cause a placebo like effect which in turn lowers the pain level even though research suggests otherwise.
3) Terms: Analgesia, analgesic drugs, pain, neuropathic, antidepressants, topical analgesia, NSAIDs, opioid, placebo, mutation, protein, discriminative touch.
4) http://omim.org/entry/256800 This article described several cases of analgesia and the gene mutation associated with the disorder.
http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A144411&dswid=-3241 This is a study that looked further into the genetic makeup of those with analgesia disorder.
http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=784895 This research article helps explain how analgesic drug help with pain reduction and when they should be used. It also explains what can happen when overdosing occurs.
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/33/4/113/5 This article explains instances where combination analgenic drugs are used for better results in patients.
I chose to do my research on phantom limb pain. This relates to the chapter, as it was discussed in some detail in the chapter. It also pertains to the perceptual system of touch in the body that the chapter talks about. I chose to research this topic, because I have a friend who experiences phantom pains after having his colon removed.
A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb (even an organ, like the appendix) is still attached to the body and is moving appropriately with other body parts. Approximately 60 to 80% of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in their amputated limb, and the majority of the sensations are painful. Phantom sensations may also occur after the removal of body parts other than the limbs, e.g. after amputation of the breast, extraction of a tooth (phantom tooth pain) or removal of an eye (phantom eye syndrome). The missing limb often feels shorter and may feel as if it is in a distorted and painful position. Occasionally, the pain can be made worse by stress, anxiety, and weather changes. Phantom limb pain is usually intermittent. The frequency and intensity of attacks usually declines with time.
Although not all phantom limbs are painful, patients will sometimes feel as if they are gesturing, feel itches, twitch, or even try to pick things up. For example, Ramachandran and Blakeslee describe that some people's representations of their limbs do not actually match what they should be, for example, one patient reported that her phantom arm was about "6 inches too short".
Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a complex phenomenon that includes a wide variety of symptoms ranging from tingling and itching to burning and aching. During the past twenty years researchers have advanced a number of theories to explain phantom limb pain. Three of the most prominent are: 1) maladaptive changes in the primary sensory cortex after amputation (maladaptive plasticity), 2) a conflict between the signals received from the amputated limb (proprioception) and the information provided by vision that serves to send motor commands to the missing limb, 3) vivid limb position memories that emerge after amputation.
In 2013 Tamar Makin (Oxford University) published the results of an experiment which challenges the theory of maladaptive plasticity (first advanced by Herta Flor). Makin's research indicates that the cortical representation of the missing limb is actually stronger after amputation. That is, there is no cortical remapping after amputation. Peter Brugger (University of Zurich) stated that “This is truly significant work, which challenges previous views—close to axiomatic—that phantom limb pain is a marker of cortical reorganization."
Also in 2013, a team of scientists led by Marshall Devor (Hebrew University) carried out research that strongly suggests that phantom limb pain originates in the nervous system rather than in the brain, as a result of cortical reorganization. "Guided by medical imaging, the researchers injected 31 leg amputees who suffered from phantom limb syndrome – 16 in Albania and 15 in Israel – with local anesthetic near where the nerves from their amputated legs enter the spinal cord in the lower back. Within minutes, phantom limb sensation and pain was temporarily reduced or eliminated in all the amputees."
Most approaches to treatment over the past two decades have not shown consistent symptom improvement. Treatment approaches have included drugs such as antidepressants, Spinal cord stimulation, Vibration therapy, acupuncture, hypnosis, and biofeedback.
In 2006 Herta Flor, at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Heidelberg, stated that "Several studies, including large surveys of amputees, have shown that most currently available treatments for phantom limb pain, which range from analgesic and antidepressant medication to stimulation, are ineffective and fail to consider the mechanisms that underlie production of the pain".
One approach that has gained a great deal of public attention is the mirror box developed by Vilayanur Ramachandran and colleagues. Through the use of artificial visual feedback it becomes possible for the patient to "move" the phantom limb, and to unclench it from potentially painful positions.
Recently, graded motor imagery (which may incorporate mirror therapy) and sensory discrimination training have emerged as promising therapeutic tools in dealing with pathologic pain problems such as phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome. However, Lorimer Mosely, who developed graded motor imagery, cautions "Although evidence is emerging that treatments such as graded motor imagery and sensory discrimination training can be effective for pathologic pain, further studies are needed to replicate the current data and elucidate the mechanisms involved."
In 2009 Lorimer Moseley and Peter Brugger carried out an experiment in which they encouraged seven arm-amputees to use visual imagery to contort their phantom limbs into impossible configurations. Four of the seven subjects succeeded in performing impossible movements of the phantom limb. This experiment suggests that the subjects had modified the neural representation of their phantom limbs and generated the motor commands needed to execute impossible movements in the absence of feedback from the body. The authors stated that: "In fact, this finding extends our understanding of the brain's plasticity because it is evidence that profound changes in the mental representation of the body can be induced purely by internal brain mechanisms--the brain truly does change itself."
In 2012 V.S. Ramachandran and Paul McGeoch reported the case of a 57-year-old woman (known as R.N.) who was born with a deformed right hand consisting of only three fingers and a rudimentary thumb. After a car crash at the age of 18, the woman's deformed hand was amputated, which gave rise to feelings of a phantom hand. The phantom hand was experienced, however, as having all five fingers (although some of the digits were foreshortened). 35 years after her accident, the woman was referred for treatment after her phantom hand had become unbearably painful. McGeoch and Ramachandran trained R.N. using mirror box visual feedback, for 30 minutes a day, in which the reflection of her healthy left-hand was seen as superimposed onto where she felt her phantom right hand to be. After two weeks she was able to move her phantom fingers and was relieved of pain. Crucially, she also experienced that all five of her phantom fingers were now normal length. Ramachandran and McGeoch stated that this case provides evidence that the brain has an innate (hard-wired) template of a fully formed hand.
In 2012 an experiment was conducted in which it was demonstrated that the movement of phantom limbs are "real" movements that involve the execution of a motor command. Amputees can also carry out imaginary movements of their phantom limbs, however these movements do not lead to a feeling that the phantom limb has changed position. This research indicates that clinicians using motor training for pain relief need to distinguish between imagined movements and real movements of phantom limbs.
In 2013, experiments involving eight subjects were reported by Nadia Bolognini (University of Milano-Bicocca) in which transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was used to temporarily reduce phantom limb pain. The researchers found that this type of stimulation could produce short-term (under 90 minutes) reduction of pain without affecting other amputation-related phenomena
Terms: Phantom Limb, Phantom Limb Pain, Amputated, Limb, Phantom Sensations, Sensory Cortex, Proprioception, Maladaptive Plasticity, Cortical Remapping, Analgesic, Mirror Box, Graded Motor Imagery, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/phantom-limb-pain - I chose this source, because it provided a good background of information to do further research with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_limb - I chose this source, because it had a lot of information, including several specific studies that were not mentioned in other sources.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/phantom-pain/basics/definition/con-20023268 - I used this source, because it had a lot of good information, and it was from a very credible source.
1. I decided to learn more about pain in general. The subject of pain relates to chapter 13 because it talked about pain sensations. I thought it was interesting because pain is something everybody experiences at some point in their life, or so I though until I read about congenital analgesia, so it seems like a pretty much universal experience.
2. Physical pain is hard to define, so I will use Wikipedia’s definition: “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage." The pain perception threshold is defined as the time the stimulus starts hurting. The pain tolerance threshold is the time the stimulus stops hurting.
During my research I found out there are types of pain: Duration, nociceptive, neuropathic, psychogenic, breakthrough, incident, and pain asymbolia/ insensitivity. Duration is the amount of time the pain is felt, which decides whether pain is called chronic or acute. Nociceptive pain is the type of pain that was discussed in the textbook. This pain is split up into three subcategories: thermal, mechanical, and chemical. Thermal pain is the bodies’ reaction to differences in temperature. Mechanical pain is the type of pain felt when we are injured. Chemical pain is the type of pain felt when a foreign substance gets where it is not supposed to be on our body, like when an orange squirts into an eye. Neuropathic pain the type of pain felt when the nervous system is damaged. This pain can be felt a variety of ways but some well know descriptors are: tingling, stabbing, and pins and needles. This damage can be long-term or short-term. A short term example of this is when a person hits their ulnar nerve, aka the funny bone. A long-term example of this is called phantom pain. Phantom pain happens because a body part is removed or the brain stops receiving messages when the fibers fire. Common examples of this are phantom limb pain and nerve damage that results in a loss of sensation. Psychogenic pain, aka somatic pain, is felt when there is no medical cause, but by some mental, emotional, or behavioral aspects of the suffers life. This pain is often hard to diagnose because medical professionals might not believe the patient pain is real because there is no physical cause. Breakthrough pain is a spike in pain that happens when a person is already using pain management techniques; this type is usually treated by upping the dosage of pain meds or waiting for it to pass. Incident pain is the type of pain felt when person does a certain movement, arthritis or the pain of popping stiches too soon are examples of this. Pain asymbolia and insensitive are two diseases that that get lumped together as not feeling pain at all. I didn’t know that this even existed so I explored them further.
Even though pain asymbolia and insensitivity are often put together for convince, they are two similar but different diseases that each have different pros and cons to them. Pain asymbolia (aka pain dissociation) is when a person can perceive pain, acknowledge that they are experiencing pain BUT are not bothered at all by the pain. As far as I can tell this disease have mostly pros, since the people who have it differentiate: where the pain is, how strong the pain is, and how severe the risk is if they ignore the pain. Insensitive, aka Congenital Insensitivity to Pain is a very rare disease where the person who has it does not feel pain at all. I know this sounds like something that would be good most of the time, but it is most definitely not true. Pain is an important part of life because animals feel pain when we are in danger due to medical emerges, or physical injuries that could really hurt us (or possibly even kill us) if they go untreated. Ashlyn Blocker (age 15) has this disorder, which has given her both trouble and hope. Her parents thought it was weird that she didn’t ever cry as an infant, but discovered a major problem at a routine eye appointment. Blocker had scratched her cornea, which is very painful. This lead to Blocker’s diagnosis. It has caused problems like burns and other injuries would have caused possibly deadly infections if she hadn’t learned when something was wrong.
But the amazing part of this situation is that Blocker and her family are using this diagnosis as a way to help others. Blocker has been working with researchers to try to use her inability to try to ease the pain of others. Though research done with Blocker, researchers have discovered the DNA gene that is part of revving pain nerve stimuli. It’s called SCN9A, and researchers hope to use this knowledge to learn how to treat pain.
3. Terms: pain, pain sensations, congenital analgesia, Physical, sensory and emotional, experience , tissue damage, pain perception threshold , stimulus, pain tolerance threshold , Duration, nociceptive, neuropathic, psychogenic, breakthrough, incident, pain asymbolia, insensitivity, chronic, acute, thermal, mechanical, chemical, bodies’, temperature, foreign substance, eye, nervous system , tingling, stabbing, pins and needles., ulnar nerve, funny, bone, phantom pain, fibers, fire, brain, phantom limb pain , nerve damage, somatic pain, mental, emotional, behavioral , pain management techniques, arthritis, pain dissociation,, Congenital Insensitivity to Pain, cornea, DNA gene , pain nerve stimuli, SCN9A.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain I picked this site because it talked about some basics of pain. I used it for: the types of pain, definition, threshold info, and name of SCN9A.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulnar_nerve I picked this site because it talks about the funny bone. I used it for the official title of the funny bone.
http://nawrot.psych.ndsu.nodak.edu/Courses/465Projects10/Pain/FinalProject_files/Page724.htm I picked this site because it talked about the difference between Pain Asymbolia and Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. I used it for the difference between Pain Asymbolia and Congenital Insensitivity to Pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6iOUW523BE I used this video for info on Ashlyn Blocker.
For this chapter I decided to focus on touch and the different forms of touch we experience, such as painful touch, pleasure touch and any other forms of touch I find in my research. The chapter discusses touch in many different forms; however, I find it extremely interesting how it discusses pain, and pleasure and the difference in the sensations. I find this interesting because touch is a way we show our emotions; we experience it every day and different forms of touch hold different emotions and give us different feelings. I like researching topics that we can relate to in our every day lives.
When looking for the general definition of "touch" most of the definitions I found were similar or very much a like, some of the different ones were:
-to put the hand, finger, etc., on or into contact with (something) to feel it:
-to come into contact with and perceive (something), as the hand or the like does.
-to bring (the hand, finger, etc., or something held) into contact with something:
-to give a slight tap or pat to with the hand, finger, etc.; strike or hit gently or lightly.
-to come into or be in contact with.
Geometry.
-to be adjacent to or border on.
All of these definitions give a general idea of how you physically touch something; but understanding the emotional aspect of touch is much different.
Painful touch the definition would look more complicated; Painful touch typically involves a mechanical stimulus that exceeds a noxious threshold or includes a noxious component such as excessive heat. Unlike the mechanoreceptors, nerve endings that transmit noxious information are naked and lie free in the skin. Thus they are known as free nerve endings and they arise mostly from the peripheral termination of A delta and C fibres. The free nerve endings are polymodal and can respond to non-noxious and noxious temperatures or mechanical stimuli.
I read a case about a 4 year old boy who went into the doctor complaining that "everything hurt" he said that when he touched anything it hurt, when he talked to much his mouth hurt, when he went outside to play he felt pains in everything he touched. When he was asked to explain the pain he was experiencing he would make a "hitting motion" with his hands as if the pain he was feeling was much like being hit. The boy was very energetic and alive however, his complains seemed very real. It turned out that the boy was abused when he was younger and the pain he was feeling was emotional but he didn't know how to explain how he was feeling and he kept relating the feeling of sadness and hurt to the physical pain he had previously felt. I really was interested in the case because it was interesting to see how his idea of touch was painful because he was convincing himself that he was experiencing physical pain. We read in the chapter how pain can be a mindset as well, the book stated that if you convince yourself that you aren't in pain you may not feel as much pain, however, if you tell yourself that you are experiencing a lot of pain and that something will be very painful it may actually be more painful.
Pleasure touch; when finding definitions of pleasurful touch it was more difficult every website turned into "touching yourself sexually" which wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I find this form of touch very interesting because it is the most important form of touch in my opinion. This form of touch expresses so much emotion.
Forms of touch can be related to sensation and perception because the touch that we experience is determining the different sensation. who touches us, how they touch us, and what sensation we experiences perceives what we may think or feel toward that person. Therefore, touch is extremely interesting and important.
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Painful_touch; painful touch is defined and explained with a different way of thinking in this website.
http://www.interhomeopathy.org/everything-i-touch-hurts-a-case-of-taraxacum; this site gave an example of a case of a young boy who felt pain all the time in everything he touched. It was interesting and relatable to the reading.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/pleasure; this website wasn't as useful most of the websites on pleasure weren't helpful in my research.
Terms; c fibers, a delta, touch, sensation, perception, emotion, nerve endings, stimuli, pain,
1. A)The topic I have chosen is tactile agnosia.
B) This relates to the chapter because it is the inability to know what an object is by touching it.
C) I was interested in the because I wanted to know why it happens and if there was a cure for it.
2. Tactile agnosia is very uncommon. In general agnosia is when a person is unable to identify an object by any of your senses. It is when a person is unable to identify an object by touch. A person with this is still able to interact normally with the world. A person is still able to identify objects by seeing it or other senses.
This can happen when there is damage in the brain in certain pathways. It is caused by a lesion in the parietal or temporal lobes. These lesions can be caused by strokes, head trauma, or encephalitis. Other conditions that can cause agnosia are dementia, carbon monoxide poisoning, or anoxia. Some causes could be treated through surgery.
Diagnosis is clinical. You can do it by neuropsychologic testing and brain imaging to find the cause. When a patient is being diagnosed they will be asked to try to identify objects by touch.
Once a person is diagnosed with this they have a few options for treatment but there is no specific treatment. They could have occupational therapy. A person could also do rehabilitation to help a patient compensate.
3. Terms: Touch, Lesion, Temporal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Tactile Agnosia, Agnosia.
4. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/function-and-dysfunction-of-the-cerebral-lobes/agnosia
This website was useful because it listed possible causes and some treatments that would be useful.
http://www.healthline.com/symptom/agnosia
This website was useful because it explained what agnosia was and the different types.
http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php?t=1799
This website was useful because it explained the definition of tactile agnosia and the cause in the brain.