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Abstract
The ability to detect and respond to aversive environmental stimuli is a basic feature
of animals that is expressed in the term 'nociception.' Nociception and nociceptive
responses provide an index of the sensitivity of individuals to aversive physical
stimuli. Measurements of alterations in nociceptive responses (antinociception and
analgesia) are commonly used to monitor the behavioral and physiological status of
animals following experimental manipulation that usually, but not always, involve
exposure to either noxious, stressful or potentially stressful physical and/or biological
stimuli. This review briefly considers: i) the phylogenetic development of nociceptive
responses and behaviors ii) evolutionary and comparative patterns of the neuromodulation
of nociceptive behaviors by opioid peptides and other nonopioid peptidal regulatory
mechanisms; iii) the effects of various biological variables, including; age, development,
sex, and temporal factors (biological rhythms) on nociception in rodents.