What Is Pain? -- Pain Perception
When a person experiences pain, the perception of pain involves coordinated effort between the peripheral nerves, spinal cord, and brain.
Peripheral nerves associated with the skin, muscles, connective tissue, bones, joints, and the lining of internal organs are equipped with specialized receptors called nociceptors. When nociceptors detect injury or the potential for injury, they initiate a pain message and send it along the peripheral nerves toward your spinal column. This message is sent in the form of an electrical impulse.
The spinal cord then transmits the message to the brain. In the brain, the electrical signal translates into the sensation known as pain.
Did you ever notice how it takes longer to feel pain from a stubbed toe compared to a hurt finger? That's because the nerves transmitting the pain message from your foot to your brain are relatively long compared to nerves running from your hands to your brain; it takes longer for a pain message from your foot to register in the brain.
