REVIEW ARTICLE
Pain and Decision-Making: Interrelated Through Homeostasis
Celina A. Salcido, Maxine K. Geltmeier, Perry N. Fuchs*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2018Volume: 11
First Page: 31
Last Page: 40
Publisher ID: TOPAINJ-11-31
DOI: 10.2174/1876386301811010031
Article History:
Received Date: 24/09/2018Revision Received Date: 20/11/2018
Acceptance Date: 26/11/2018
Electronic publication date: 31/12/2018
Collection year: 2018
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Pain is a multidimensional experience that motivates organisms to engage in behavioral repertoire to deal with potential life-threatening situations that are a threat to homeostatic function. The aim of this mini-review was to highlight the nature of pain, the role that pain has as a motivational drive to impact higher-order cognitive processes, such as decision making, and how these processes are intimately integrated with homeostatic mechanisms.
Conclusion:
Both conceptual and neurobiological overlap suggest a close interaction of decision-making, pain, and homeostasis. Pain, decision-making and homeostasis are interconnected through a common denominator of survival and must be considered when assessing pain-related issues and treatments.