Gate control theory
Teoría de la compuerta
- Date
- 1965 · confidence high
- Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Credited to
- Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A theory explaining how non-painful stimuli can close neural 'gates' that let pain signals reach the central nervous system, proposed by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall to account for the modulation of pain perception.
What it led to
- scientific basis for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
- new clinical approaches to chronic pain treatment
- impetus for research in pain neurophysiology
- influence on the development of stimulation-based analgesia