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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
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Chapter 1. The Secret World of Pain

Health Psychology Student Video Activities
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Picture of a man holding his shoulder
Piotr Marcinski

The Secret World of Pain

Author: Richard O. Straub

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Although the pain from a minor sports injury usually disappears, in the case of the young woman in this video clip it didn’t. Now, years later, she suffers from complex regional pain syndrome. This BBC video clip explains that while hundreds of genes are involved in pain, life events may be just as important in explaining individual variations in how pain is experienced. All sensory pathways, including those involved in experiencing pain, require stimulation to develop fully. In her studies comparing the brain development of newborns, Maria Fitzgerald has found that premature babies, who often undergo frequent painful procedures such as heel-prick blood tests, have stronger brain activity than full-term babies. Could it be that the repeated procedures have altered neural pathways and shaped an increased sensitivity to pain?

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1. The pain experiences of the young woman in the video clip began when she:

2. The young woman in the video clip suffers from:

3. Professor Fitzgerald studies pain by measuring:

4. The brain activity of premature babies in response to heel-pricks and other painful procedures is:

5. The mechanisms and neural pathways involved in the experience of pain:

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Incorrect.

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