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.

Inhalt

1 - Camillo Golgi: The Dawning of Neuroscience.- 2 - Neurochemistry of Pain Circuits: Physiological versus Pathological Pain.- 3 - First Affluent Neuron.- 4 - The Involvement of the Brainstem Reticular Formation in Pain Processing.- 5 - The Thalamus and Pain.- 6 - Naloxone, but not Estradiol, Affects the Gonadectomy-Induced Increase in Hippocampal Cholineacetyltransferase Activity in Male Rats.- 7 - Consciousness and Pain.- 8 - Visceral Pain Mechanisms.- 9 - PET-Scan and Electrophysiological Assessment of Neuromodulation Procedures for Pain Control.- 10 - Acute Postoperative Pain Service Models.- 11 - Postoperative Functional Pain Management.- 12 - Timing for Narcotic Drugs in Terminal Illness.- 13 - Ethical Decisions in Terminal Illness.- Main Symbols.