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Resumen
El dolor es una experiencia sensorial y emocional desagradable, funciona como un mecanismo de alerta, sealando que algo no est bien
en el organismo. La percepcin del dolor se inicia con la activacin de los nociceptores localizados en diferentes rganos y tejidos del
organismo, los cuales transmiten la informacin nociceptiva al sistema nervioso central. La percepcin de esta informacin como dolor, es
consecuencia de su procesamiento por una compleja interaccin entre diferentes estructuras supraespinales, las cuales modulan la actividad
de la red neuronal en el asta dorsal de la mdula espinal. El procesamiento de la informacin nociceptiva involucra tanto al sistema nervioso
central como al perifrico. Los impulsos que llegan al asta dorsal a travs de las vas descendentes desde el encfalo activan mecanismos
moduladores que modifican el efecto de los impulsos subsecuentes. As, el flujo de la informacin nociceptiva desde la periferia puede ser
inhibido o facilitado. El efecto neto de la modulacin descendente sobre la transmisin nociceptiva estar determinado por el balance entre
la facilitacin y la inhibicin.
PALABRAS CLAVES: Dolor, Nocicepcin, Transmisin, Percepcin, Modulacin.
Abstract
PHYSIOLOGY AND CONTROL OF PAIN PERCEPTION
Pain is an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential damage, having an endogenous protective function
by signaling to the brain the appearance of tissue injury, thus prompting a protective response. The initial processing of pain is nociception,
initiated by nociceptors found in most organs and tissues in the body. The nociceptive information is transmitted by the ascending pain pathways
to the cerebral cortex, where it is integrated and interpreted as pain. The processing of pain involves both the peripheral and central nervous
system. Afferent impulses arriving at the dorsal horn of the spinal cord are modulated through descending pathways from the brain, that limit
the effect of subsequent impulses. Thus, the flow of further nociceptive information from the periphery can be inhibited, or facilitated. The net
effect of descending modulation on nociceptive transmission is determined by the balance between physiological inhibition and facilitation.
KEY WORDS: Pain, Nociception, Transmission, Perception, Modulation.
Introduccin
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Figura 1
INFLAMACIN NEUROGNICA
Vasodilatacin
Estimulacin
antidrmica
Ganglio raz dorsal
Al tlamo
Hiperalgesia
Figura 2
MEDIADORES QUMICOS QUE PARTICIPAN EN LA
TRANSMISIN DE LA INFORMACIN NOCICEPTIVA A NIVEL
DEL ASTA DORSAL DE LA MDULA ESPINAL
Vas ascendentes
Las neuronas de proyeccin transmiten la
informacin nociceptiva desde la mdula espinal
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Tlamo
La informacin nociceptiva es transmitida al tlamo
directamente por el trigmino y por el tracto espino
talmico, adems por otras vas que incluyen el haz
espinoreticular y el espinomesenceflico. Las fibras
de estos tractos terminan en varios ncleos talmicos
que incluyen al ncleo ventroposterior lateral y
medial, porcin ventrocaudal del ncleo dorsal
medial y el ncleo parafascicular medial del tla
mo.79,80
Algunas evidencias experimentales indican que el
tlamo, adems de ser un sitio de relevo sinptico
de la va sensorial, tiene una funcin importante
como compuerta y anlisis de la informacin sen
sorial. El tlamo participa en el procesamiento y
modulacin de la informacin nociceptiva visceral.
La inyeccin local de lidocana en el tlamo reduce
la respuesta de algunas neuronas talmicas de ratas
con colon irritable, mientras que no afecta la actividad
neuronal de las ratas control.81-83
Las mltiples proyecciones que tiene el tlamo
con el tallo cerebral podran explicar los diferentes
componentes del dolor incluyendo el sensorial y
autonmico.84,85 Mientras que sus proyecciones
hacia la corteza sensorialHipocampo
y lbulo frontal explicara
el rol del tlamo en el procesamiento del aspecto
emocional de la nocicepcin.86
Sistema lmbico
Fibras provenientes de neuronas localizadas en las
lminas I, V y VIII llegan a varias areas del telencfalo
incluyendo la amgdala, ncleo acumbes, ncleo
septal, corteza frontal y al hipotlamo, que adems
recibe proyecciones del tlamo. Estas fibras que
transportan informacin nociceptiva al hipotlamo
explicaran los cambios en las respuestas autnomas
(neuroendocrinas y cardiovasculares) y afectivos
asociadas con la percepcin del dolor. Mientras que
los aspectos emocionales del dolor tales como la
Figura 3
IMGENES OBTENIDAS POR MEDIO DE RESONANCIA
MAGNTICA FUNCIONAL (FMRI) DE ESTRUCTURAS CORTI
CALES EN HUMANOS, ACTIVADAS POR ESTIMULO NOCIVO.
Corteza orbitofrontal
Cingulum
Hipocampo
Tlamo
Hipocampo
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Figura 4
REGISTROS INDEPENDIENTES DE LA ACTIVIDAD NEURONAL EN
LA REGIN CA1 DEL HIPOCAMPO DE RATAS ANESTESIADAS
CON URETANO
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Figura 5
DIAGRAMA DE LA INTERRELACIN ENTRE ESTRUCTU
RAS CEREBRALES INVOLUCRADAS EN EL INICIO Y LA
MODULACIN DEL CONTROL DESCENDENTE DE LA
INFORMACIN NOCICEPTIVA.
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