The question is a bit weird, so I’ll clarify.
To my knowledge, the brain is part of the nervous system, which is what lets you feel things. If the brain was severed from the rest of the system (Like at the base of the skull) would you feel pain there or would you just feel nothing?
In: Biology
That is a great question. Pain is very complex. What we understand so far is that pain is both a physiological process, as well as psychological.
Psychologically, it’s the brain’s perception on the severity of the stimulus that also makes us feel pain. This is why people still feel phantom pain when a limb is amputated. The mind still thinks the limb is there. This is also why some people are highly sensitive to pain and others can tolerate more pain. This is also why chronic pain can be treated with psych meds and therapy. They help teach the person to interpret and perceive pain in a different way.
Physiologically, painful stimulus is sensed by pain nerve cells and that stimulus is carried through the spinal cord and into the brain for processing.
If the spinal cord is injured, then it can interfere with that stimulus transmission. In a complete spinal cord injury, the person will often feel nothing from level of the injury down. Meaning, if they have a complete mid back injury, they will often feel nothing in their legs and belly. If they have a completely neck injury, they often won’t have any feeling from the neck down. They’ll still feel stimulus from the above the area that’s injured. They may even feel pain exactly at the spot of injury. They’ll be paralyzed from the injury down.
This is why people with complete spinal cord injuries often get very sick. They can’t feel something wrong. They can’t feel a pressure ulcer.
However, in most cases if spinal cord injury, it is incomplete. Meaning that people still have some sensation, but may be altered or diminished. Meaning that they can either feel pins and needles, worse pain, electric shocks, or just a dull feeling. They most likely will have some weakness.
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