Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology
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Neurophysiological techniques for the evaluation of pain in humans have made important advances in the last decade. A number of features of neuroanatomy and physiology of nociception qualifies pain as a multidimensional phenomenon which is rather unique among the sensory systems and which poses a number of technical and procedural requirements for its appropriate diagnostic assessment. ⋯ Particular emphasis is put upon laser-evoked potentials and their application for diagnosis, pathophysiological description and monitoring of patients with neurological disorders and abnormal pain states. Future perspectives in this growing field of research are discussed briefly.