Skip to main content

The mystery of chronic pain - Elliot Krane

225,444 Views

3,516 Questions Answered

TED Talk

Let’s Begin…

We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain and reviews the facts we're just learning about how it works and how to treat it.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Chronic pain is pain that has lasted for a long time.Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches often in association with a number of autonomic nervous system symptoms.Allodynia means “other pain.” It is a pain that results from a stimulus that is not normally painful. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body. They relay signals between nerve cells called “neurons.” The brain uses neurotransmitters to tell your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and your stomach to digest. Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert starts from a surprising premise: the brain evolved, not to think or feel, but to control movement. In his TED Talk he gives us a glimpse into how the brain creates the grace and agility of human motion.Elliot Krane works on the problem of treating children with pain at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Next Section »

About TED Talk Lessons

TED Talk Lessons are created by TED-Ed using phenomenal TED Talks. Do you have an idea for a lesson? Create it now using any video from YouTube »

Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Elliot Krane

More from Getting Under Our Skin