Gate Control Theory

Kaitlin Touza, PhD, is a pain psychology fellow in the division of pain medicine. During the March 2020 Pain Science Lecture Series, she discusses the gate control theory.
The Pain Science Lecture Series was created in 2016 by Heather Poupore-King, PhD, a Stanford clinical associate professor in the division of pain medicine and pain psychologist, to provide community-based education about chronic pain. These free monthly series are presented by Stanford pain medicine and pain psychology fellows and focus on various topics, including biological, psychological, behavioral and social factors as they relate to the experience of chronic pain.
0:00 Introduction
0:04 What is pain?
4:22 Central and Peripheral Nervous system
7:03 Sensory signal vs perception of sensation
12:07 Pain and The Brain
20:31 Factors that open and close the gate
23:30 Relaxation as a gate closing mechanism
28:51 Learn more!