what is Pain Threshold

pain is a sensation that is subjectly felt
it can be partially explained by a series of nervous activities
yet the same stimuli will produce different pain sensation in different subjects
this is when pain threshold comes in

Pain threshold is the minimal stimuli that causes pain
pain threshold can be raised/ lowered according to physiological states

eg a soldier who was shoot in combat can still run a long way in the battlefield
the stress state has greatly raised the pain threshold so he can still leave the scene

eg people with depressive mood disorder have much more difficult pain control
depressive mood generally lowers the pain threshold (at least it is believed to be so)

these phenomenon can be partially explained by the gate theory
but the true mechanism is still not totally understood