Pain

Abstract

Abstract What we pre-theoretically take to be perception is in fact a mixture between sensory stimulation-driven perception and mental imagery. Similarly, what we pre-theoretically take to be pain is in fact a mixture between sensory stimulation-driven (that is, nociceptive) pain perception and pain imagery. This explains both some cases where pain lacks any form of nociception (that is, the activation of pain receptors), like phantom pain or the thermal grid illusion, and the crucial role expectations play in pain perception.