Question

A patient is experiencing severe pain after suffering an electrical burn in a workplace accident. The nurse is applying knowledge of the pathophysiology of pain when planning this patient's nursing care. What is the physiologic process by which noxious stimuli, such as burns, activate nociceptors?

a) Transduction
b) Transmission
c) Perception
d) Modulation

Answer 1

The process by which harmful stimuli activate pain receptors or nociceptors is known as transduction, which is the conversion of stimulus energy into electrical signals that are perceived as pain.

Step-by-step explanation:

The physiologic process by which noxious stimuli, such as burns, activate nociceptors is called transduction. Transduction refers to the initial process where the energy from a mechanical, thermal, or chemical stimulus is converted into electrical signals by specialized sensory receptors known as nociceptors. During transduction, stressed or damaged tissues release chemicals that activate receptor proteins in the nociceptors, initiating a signal that is then transmitted to the central nervous system where it can be processed as pain.