Abstract
Functional neuroimaging is lifting the veil away from pain and showing that its subjectivity is not completely impenetrable. Discrete neurologic pain signatures for specific types of physical pain, for example, are coming into sharper scientific focus. Translation of these neuroscience discoveries into clinical practice holds promise for improving the understanding and treatment of patients' complex pain problems. Pain narratives also have a moral dimension undetectable by brain scans. Wise application of the scrutinizing lens of scientific objectivity ought to bring empirical facts close into view without making the patient appear distant.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 135-141 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Ethics and Medicine |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Sep 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Religious studies
- Philosophy
- Health Policy