Post-injury pain and behaviour: a control theory perspective.

ABSTRACT: Injuries of various types occur commonly in the lives of humans and other animals and lead to a pattern of persistent pain and recuperative behaviour that allows safe and effective recovery. In this Perspective, we propose a control-theoretic framework to explain the adaptive processes in the brain that drive physiological post-injury behaviour. We set out an evolutionary and ethological view on how animals respond to injury, illustrating how the behavioural state associated with persistent pain and recuperation may be just as important as phasic pain in ensuring survival. Adopting a normative approach, we suggest that the brain implements a continuous optimal inference of the current state of injury from diverse sensory and physiological signals. This drives the various effector control m

SUBMITTER: Seymour B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10465160 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature