Viscerocutaneous reflex
The viscerocutaneous reflex is a reflex that causes pain that arises in internal organs to be perceived as pain of the skin. The damaged organ and the painful area on the body surface can sometimes be far apart.
The origin of the reflex is not exactly known, but pain in the dermatomes (somatic pain transmitted by the somatic nervous system ) and pain in the internal organs (visceral pain transmitted by the autonomic nervous system ) in the spinal cord are processed by the same neurons and are Brain directed. The brain can no longer correctly assign the incoming signals, which is why pain in internal organs is perceived as pain in the dermatomes. This is also known as "transmitted pain" and typically project pain from certain organs onto certain dermatomes (see also head zones ). An irritation of the diaphragm , for example from an inflammation of the gallbladder , is noticeable , for example, through pain in the area of the collarbone . The reason for this is that the phrenic nerve that supplies the diaphragm emerges from the spinal cord at the same level as the nerve that innervates the skin region around the clavicle. It is not clear why pain in the dermatomes is not perceived conversely as pain in the internal organs.
supporting documents
- ↑ Michael Schünke u. a .: Prometheus Learning Atlas of Anatomy. Head, Neck and Neuroanatomy . 3. Edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-13-139543-6 , p. 293.