Abstract: Acute pain is a protective sensation that serves to warn us of impending harm. Chronic pain syndromes, on the other hand, are a group of resistant diseases consuming large amount of health care costs. Recent studies revealed that pain perception is formed via large-scale coding processes in central neural networks, involving several dimensions such as sensory, affective, and cognitive. Brain structures from spinal cord, brain stem, limbic system, to cortices are involved in these processes. Nevertheless, chronic painful diseases are suggested to be a result of some abnormal coding within this network. A thorough investigation of coding mechanism of pain within the central neuromatrix will give much insight into the mechanisms responsible for the development of chronic pain, hence helping lead to novel therapeutic interventions for pain management

Key words: pain, perception, emotion, central coding, neuromatrix