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kdillard's picture

Experience of pain

I think the body's response to phantom limbs is very interesting and brings up many issues about the nature of the nervous system and the experience of pain.  It is interesting that certain boxes connected to the phantom limb are still intact and sending corollary discharge to other boxes in the nervous system, resulting in pain and discomfort.  I wonder why this does not happen in people who have been paralyzed, who still have intact boxes connected to the part of their body that is paralyzed, just like a person with phantom limb syndrome.  Maybe, they still have the corollary discharge but their injury gets in the way of the signal being sent back to the brain, or they simply can not feel its effects.  It is also interesting to think of the role that the I-function plays in the physical manifestation of pain.  Is it possible that the I-function exists in multiple boxes, some of which can be disconnected, in the case of a paraplegic, explaining the absence of pain?  If this is true, then can a person only experience pain if their I-function is intact?

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