The course provides a wide coverage of all aspects of the somatosensory system and deals with psychophysical studies, general somatosensory theories, receptors and primary afferents, and anatomical and electrophysiological aspects of central structures. Within this context there will be a heavy emphasis on pain. Recent topics of interest will be discussed. The course will consist of a preliminary series of lectures to provide background material and an overview of the field, which will then be followed by student presentations, discussion, and debate on various classical and recent seminal research articles. These papers will be chosen so as to cover most of the major topics. During this first part of the course, students are expected to learn the basics of the somatosensory system and pain from readings in textbooks, assigned papers, lectures, and classroom discussions.