Surgeons can perform operations on ____ while the patient is awake because this organ lacks pain receptors.
Even though the brain is the command center that processes pain signals from your entire body, the organ itself lacks pain receptors.
The Painless Organ:
🔪 Because the brain has no nociceptors (pain receptors), surgeons can actually perform brain surgery while a patient is awake without them feeling any pain in the brain tissue
💡 This allows doctors to communicate with patients to ensure they aren't affecting vital functions like speech or movement during the procedure
The Messenger, Not the Victim:
🤕 If the brain can't feel pain, why do we get headaches? Headaches are caused by pain receptors in the surrounding structures, such as blood vessels, membranes, and muscles in the head and neck
📡 The brain acts like a radio receiver: it captures the signal (pain) from elsewhere, but the radio box itself doesn't "feel" the music