Why does the perception of chronic pain intensify even when the initial tissue damage has healed?

💡 Explanation

Chronic pain perception can intensify due to long-term potentiation (LTP) at nociceptor synapses in the spinal cord. LTP enhances the synaptic response to subsequent stimuli, because repetitive nociceptive input induces lasting changes in synaptic strength, therefore increasing pain sensitivity, rather than decreased opioid receptor expression or strengthened descending inhibition.

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