Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

Rica Dela Cruz's picture

Last week we discussed the

Last week we discussed the reasons for pain and how it is a way of reconciling corollary discharge information. We also talked about the I-function. I'm just wondering if the I-function can also be a reason for feeling pain. I was told about a type of malfunction with anesthesia where it does not fully work for some patients so they are conscious during surgery. They are able to hear the doctors talking, feel pressure and in some cases are even able to feel the extreme pain of the incisions and movement of their organs. However, the patient is unable to move or tell the doctors what they are feeling. I found an article about it: http://body.aol.com/news/health/article/_a/for-thousands-surgery-is-awake-horror/20071203113909990001. How is this possible? Because the patients are conscious when they feel the pain, does this mean the i-function does have a part in pain and it is not just the corollary discharge function? This scared me since it was also mentioned in class that it still is not fully known how anesthesia works. 

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
7 + 9 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.