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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pain. 2010 Oct 18;152(3 Suppl):S2–15. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2010.09.030

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Central sensitization. With the induction of central sensitization in somatosensory pathways with increases in synaptic efficacy and reductions in inhibition, a central amplification occurs enhancing the pain response to noxious stimuli in amplitude, duration and spatial extent, while the strengthening of normally ineffective synapses recruits subliminal inputs such that inputs in low threshold sensory inputs can now activate the pain circuit. The two parallel sensory pathways converge.