The gate control theory's most important contribution to understanding pain was its
emphasis on central neural mechanisms. The theory forced the medical and biological
sciences to accept the brain as an active system that filters, selects and modulates inputs.
The dorsal horns, too, were not merely passive transmission stations but sites at which
dynamic activities (inhibition, excitation and modulation) occurred. The great challenge
ahead of us is to understand brain function. I have therefore proposed that the brain …