Emotional–affective and cognitive dimensions of pain are less well understood than
nociceptive and nocifensive components, but the forebrain is believed to play an important
role. Recent evidence suggests that subcortical and cortical brain areas outside the
traditional pain processing network contribute critically to emotional–affective responses and
cognitive deficits related to pain. These brain areas include different nuclei of the amygdala
and certain prefrontal cortical areas. Their roles in various aspects of pain will be discussed …