Neuroscience: Focus on Acute and Chronic Pain (Topics in Anaesthesia and Critical Care)

Dedicated to Camillo Golgi, a neuroscience pioneer, the volume deals with the process of diagnosis and the strategies of treatment of pain. The most recent data on the biochemical basis of neurotransmission are reported, and the results of updated researches in pain processing, either concerning the brainstem, the thalamus and the limbic system are analysed. The importance of the ethical aspect in decision-making during the treatment of terminally ill patients is underlined. The book contains black-and-white illustrations. Front Matter....Pages N2-XI Camillo Golgi: The Dawning of Neuroscience....Pages 1-7 Neurochemistry of Pain Circuits: Physiological versus Pathological Pain....Pages 9-18 First Affluent Neuron....Pages 19-26 The Involvement of the Brainstem Reticular Formation in Pain Processing....Pages 27-36 The Thalamus and Pain....Pages 37-42 Naloxone, but not Estradiol, Affects the Gonadectomy-Induced Increase in Hippocampal Cholineacetyltransferase Activity in Male Rats....Pages 43-49 Consciousness and Pain....Pages 51-58 Visceral Pain Mechanisms....Pages 59-70 PET-Scan and Electrophysiological Assessment of Neuromodulation Procedures for Pain Control....Pages 71-86 Acute Postoperative Pain Service Models....Pages 87-98 Postoperative Functional Pain Management....Pages 99-104 Timing for Narcotic Drugs in Terminal Illness....Pages 105-110 Ethical Decisions in Terminal Illness....Pages 111-118 Back Matter....Pages 119-122