Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience

Section Summary

Introduction to Behavioral NeuroscienceSection Summary

Section Summary

9.1 Somatosensory Receptors

This section summarizes the neural structures in the peripheral sensory system as the starting point to receive, transduce, and propagate various modalities of somatosensory information to the central nervous system. Understanding various types of sensory receptors, their axon types, cell body location, and major neurotransmitters used will provide a solid foundation for understanding at the next level of neural transmission, the central nervous system.

9.2 Somatosensation in the Central Nervous System

This section covers the anatomical organization of the spinal cord, pathways to the brainstem and thalamus, and the primary somatosensory cortex, in addition to the gate control system, descending inhibitory system, and limbic system. With this knowledge, not only do we understand the somatosensory information flow to the brain to enable perception, but also understand how the peripheral stimulation to the body (touch, burning, pain, and other inputs) can generate emotional responses. Returning to our example from the beginning of this section, we can appreciate how getting stepped on once activated our physical and emotional response to pain, but we could use our posterior parietal cortex to integrate multiple sources of information (the apology) and plan a calm response (using our prefrontal cortex). But when we get stepped on again, the same stimulus integrates with our memories to yield a stronger emotional response the second time. This example shows how sensation is more than just the activation of peripheral receptors; it interacts with multiple brain systems to help guide our behaviors.

9.3 Pain and Itch

The emotional experience of pain is contributed to significantly by the limbic system structures, which also play a critical role in the regulation of our emotions, such as depression. Clinically, increased pain will make depression worse, and vice versa; proper treatment of one will also relieve the other. Anatomical and physiological evidence suggests that they share the same neural circuitry.

Although pain and itch share similarities in activities in both C- and Aδ-fibers and both are subjective in nature, their functional mechanisms are quite different. While pain can be elicited by various stimulation (mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrical), itch is mainly induced by chemical stimulation.

9.4 Pain Relief

Treatment of pain can be delivered through various strategies, from the over-the-counter medication to prescription drugs, behavioral cognitive treatment to physical therapy, and other instrumental measures including invasive or non-invasive stimulation of the nervous system (peripheral and central), and finally, surgical options.

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-behavioral-neuroscience/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-behavioral-neuroscience/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Apr 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.