An Overview of Offset Analgesia: Mechanisms and Functional Significance

Nociceptive information undergoes substantial processing in both the temporal and spatial domains. Dr. Coghill will provide an overview of offset analgesia and its impact on nociceptive processing. He will discuss the role of offset analgesia in the temporal filtering of nociceptive input and will contrast it with the role of conditioned pain modulation in the spatial filtering of nociceptive input. Potential peripheral, spinal, descending, and supraspinal mechanisms will be delineated. Finally, the relationship between offset analgesia, conditioned pain modulation, individual differences in pain sensitivity will be described.