The postnatal development of spinal sensory processing

The mechanisms by which infants and children process pain should be viewed within the context of a developing sensory nervous system. The study of the neurophysiological properties and connectivity of sensory neurons in the d eveloping spinal cord dorsal horn of the intact postnatal rat has shed ligh t on the way in which the newborn central nervous system analyzes cutaneous innocuous and noxious stimuli. The receptive field properties and evoked a ctivity of newborn dorsal horn cells to single repetitive and persistent in nocuous and noxious inputs are developmentally regulated and reflect the ma turation of excitatory transmission within the spinal cord. These changes w ill have an important influence on pain processing in the postnatal period.