Theory 75/Pain/Ratio lens
Pain Is Excitation Against Inhibition
The claim
Perceived pain is set by the ratio of ascending excitation to descending inhibition, so the same injury is felt differently depending on context.
01Mechanism
Descending pathways gate the signal; the ratio determines how much reaches perception.
02Prediction
Perceived pain should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Pain tracking injury alone would remove descending control.