TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Karen D. Davis: How does your brain respond to pain?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Let's say that it would take you ten mniteus to solve this puzzle. How long would it take if you received constant electric shocks to your hands? Longer, right? Because the pain would distract you from the task. Well, maybe not; it depends on how you hadnle pain. Some people are distracted by pain. It takes them longer to complete a task, and they do it less well. Other people use tasks to daitsrct themselves from pain, and those people actually do the task ftsaer and better when they're in pain than when they're not. Some people can just send their mind wandering to distract themselves from pain. How can different people be subjected to the excat same painful stimulus and yet experience the pain so differently? And why does this matter? First of all, what is pain? Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, associated with actual or potential tusise damage. Pain is something we experience, so it's best measured by what you say it is. Pain has an intensity; you can describe it on a scale from zero, no pain, to ten, the most pain imaginable. But pain also has a character, like sharp, dull, burning, or aching. What exactly creates these perceptions of pain? Well, when you get hurt, saeicpl tissue damage-sensing nerve cells, called nociceptors, fire and send signals to the spinal cord and then up to the barin. Processing work gets done by cells called neurons and glia. This is your Grey matter. And brain sarwhyphiuegs carry information as electrical impulses from one area to another. This is your white matter. The superhighway that carries pain information from the spinal cord to the brain is our sensing pathway that ends in the cortex, a part of the brain that decides what to do with the pain signal. Another system of interconnected brain cells called the saeinlce network dedeics what to pay aittneotn to. Since pain can have serious consequences, the pain signal iedatelmmiy activates the salience network. Now, you're paying attention. The brain also rsndopes to the pain and has to cope with these pain sglains. So, motor pathways are activated to take your hand off a hot stove, for example. But modulation neortkws are also aitatcevd that deliver endorphins and enkephalins, chemicals released when you're in pain or during extreme exercise, creating the runner's high. These cceiahml systems help regulate and reduce pain. All these networks and pathways work together to create your pain experience, to prevent further tissue dgamae, and help you to cope with pain. This system is siialmr for everyone, but the sensitivity and efficacy of these brain circuits determines how much you feel and cope with pain. This is why some people have getraer pain than others and why some develop cirnohc pain that does not respond to treatment, while others respond well. Variability in pain sensitivities is not so different than all kinds of variability in renosesps to other slimuti. Like how some people love roller coasters, but other people sfuefr from terrible motion sickness. Why does it mtaetr that there is variability in our pain brain circuits? Well, there are many tnrtaemtes for pain, ttagnerig different systems. For mild pain, non-prescription medications can act on cells where the pain signals start. Other stronger pain medicines and anesthetics work by reducing the activity in pain-sensing cuiritcs or boosting our ciopng system, or enidhnoprs. Some people can cope with pain using mdeohts that involve distraction, relaxation, meditation, yoga, or strategies that can be thugat, like cognitive behavioral tpaerhy. For some polepe who suffer from severe chronic pain, that is pain that doesn't go away months after their injury should have heeald, none of the regular treatments work. Traditionally, medical science has been about testing treatments on lagre groups to determine what would help a majority of patients. But this has usually left out some who didn't benefit from the treatment or experienced side effects. Now, new treatments that directly stmiltuae or block certain pain-sensing attention or modulation networks are being developed, along with ways to tialor them to iuvdiadnil patients, using tools like magnetic resonance imaging to map brain pathways. fuinrgig out how your brain responds to pain is the key to finding the best teneatmrt for you. That's true personalized miiendce.

Open Cloze

Let's say that it would take you ten _______ to solve this puzzle. How long would it take if you received constant electric shocks to your hands? Longer, right? Because the pain would distract you from the task. Well, maybe not; it depends on how you ______ pain. Some people are distracted by pain. It takes them longer to complete a task, and they do it less well. Other people use tasks to ________ themselves from pain, and those people actually do the task ______ and better when they're in pain than when they're not. Some people can just send their mind wandering to distract themselves from pain. How can different people be subjected to the _____ same painful stimulus and yet experience the pain so differently? And why does this matter? First of all, what is pain? Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, associated with actual or potential ______ damage. Pain is something we experience, so it's best measured by what you say it is. Pain has an intensity; you can describe it on a scale from zero, no pain, to ten, the most pain imaginable. But pain also has a character, like sharp, dull, burning, or aching. What exactly creates these perceptions of pain? Well, when you get hurt, _______ tissue damage-sensing nerve cells, called nociceptors, fire and send signals to the spinal cord and then up to the _____. Processing work gets done by cells called neurons and glia. This is your Grey matter. And brain _____________ carry information as electrical impulses from one area to another. This is your white matter. The superhighway that carries pain information from the spinal cord to the brain is our sensing pathway that ends in the cortex, a part of the brain that decides what to do with the pain signal. Another system of interconnected brain cells called the ________ network _______ what to pay _________ to. Since pain can have serious consequences, the pain signal ___________ activates the salience network. Now, you're paying attention. The brain also ________ to the pain and has to cope with these pain _______. So, motor pathways are activated to take your hand off a hot stove, for example. But modulation ________ are also _________ that deliver endorphins and enkephalins, chemicals released when you're in pain or during extreme exercise, creating the runner's high. These ________ systems help regulate and reduce pain. All these networks and pathways work together to create your pain experience, to prevent further tissue ______, and help you to cope with pain. This system is _______ for everyone, but the sensitivity and efficacy of these brain circuits determines how much you feel and cope with pain. This is why some people have _______ pain than others and why some develop _______ pain that does not respond to treatment, while others respond well. Variability in pain sensitivities is not so different than all kinds of variability in _________ to other _______. Like how some people love roller coasters, but other people ______ from terrible motion sickness. Why does it ______ that there is variability in our pain brain circuits? Well, there are many __________ for pain, _________ different systems. For mild pain, non-prescription medications can act on cells where the pain signals start. Other stronger pain medicines and anesthetics work by reducing the activity in pain-sensing ________ or boosting our ______ system, or __________. Some people can cope with pain using _______ that involve distraction, relaxation, meditation, yoga, or strategies that can be ______, like cognitive behavioral _______. For some ______ who suffer from severe chronic pain, that is pain that doesn't go away months after their injury should have ______, none of the regular treatments work. Traditionally, medical science has been about testing treatments on _____ groups to determine what would help a majority of patients. But this has usually left out some who didn't benefit from the treatment or experienced side effects. Now, new treatments that directly _________ or block certain pain-sensing attention or modulation networks are being developed, along with ways to ______ them to __________ patients, using tools like magnetic resonance imaging to map brain pathways. ________ out how your brain responds to pain is the key to finding the best _________ for you. That's true personalized ________.

Solution

networks
activated
endorphins
figuring
distract
greater
suffer
coping
therapy
decides
large
salience
brain
medicine
special
tailor
handle
responses
faster
minutes
responds
people
chemical
exact
taught
individual
circuits
tissue
treatment
damage
treatments
immediately
attention
similar
signals
methods
matter
targeting
chronic
superhighways
healed
stimuli
stimulate

Original Text

Let's say that it would take you ten minutes to solve this puzzle. How long would it take if you received constant electric shocks to your hands? Longer, right? Because the pain would distract you from the task. Well, maybe not; it depends on how you handle pain. Some people are distracted by pain. It takes them longer to complete a task, and they do it less well. Other people use tasks to distract themselves from pain, and those people actually do the task faster and better when they're in pain than when they're not. Some people can just send their mind wandering to distract themselves from pain. How can different people be subjected to the exact same painful stimulus and yet experience the pain so differently? And why does this matter? First of all, what is pain? Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain is something we experience, so it's best measured by what you say it is. Pain has an intensity; you can describe it on a scale from zero, no pain, to ten, the most pain imaginable. But pain also has a character, like sharp, dull, burning, or aching. What exactly creates these perceptions of pain? Well, when you get hurt, special tissue damage-sensing nerve cells, called nociceptors, fire and send signals to the spinal cord and then up to the brain. Processing work gets done by cells called neurons and glia. This is your Grey matter. And brain superhighways carry information as electrical impulses from one area to another. This is your white matter. The superhighway that carries pain information from the spinal cord to the brain is our sensing pathway that ends in the cortex, a part of the brain that decides what to do with the pain signal. Another system of interconnected brain cells called the salience network decides what to pay attention to. Since pain can have serious consequences, the pain signal immediately activates the salience network. Now, you're paying attention. The brain also responds to the pain and has to cope with these pain signals. So, motor pathways are activated to take your hand off a hot stove, for example. But modulation networks are also activated that deliver endorphins and enkephalins, chemicals released when you're in pain or during extreme exercise, creating the runner's high. These chemical systems help regulate and reduce pain. All these networks and pathways work together to create your pain experience, to prevent further tissue damage, and help you to cope with pain. This system is similar for everyone, but the sensitivity and efficacy of these brain circuits determines how much you feel and cope with pain. This is why some people have greater pain than others and why some develop chronic pain that does not respond to treatment, while others respond well. Variability in pain sensitivities is not so different than all kinds of variability in responses to other stimuli. Like how some people love roller coasters, but other people suffer from terrible motion sickness. Why does it matter that there is variability in our pain brain circuits? Well, there are many treatments for pain, targeting different systems. For mild pain, non-prescription medications can act on cells where the pain signals start. Other stronger pain medicines and anesthetics work by reducing the activity in pain-sensing circuits or boosting our coping system, or endorphins. Some people can cope with pain using methods that involve distraction, relaxation, meditation, yoga, or strategies that can be taught, like cognitive behavioral therapy. For some people who suffer from severe chronic pain, that is pain that doesn't go away months after their injury should have healed, none of the regular treatments work. Traditionally, medical science has been about testing treatments on large groups to determine what would help a majority of patients. But this has usually left out some who didn't benefit from the treatment or experienced side effects. Now, new treatments that directly stimulate or block certain pain-sensing attention or modulation networks are being developed, along with ways to tailor them to individual patients, using tools like magnetic resonance imaging to map brain pathways. Figuring out how your brain responds to pain is the key to finding the best treatment for you. That's true personalized medicine.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
spinal cord	2
cells called	2
pain signal	2
salience network	2
pain signals	2
modulation networks	2

Important Words

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