Harmful stimuli are detected by terminal endings of peripheral pain-related neurons. These terminals are organized into complex terminal tree structures. The information from multiple activated terminals is integrated along the terminal tree, resulting in the output, which propagates towards the CNS, thus shaping the pain sensation. In this article, we revealed that the structure of the nociceptive terminal tree determines the output of nociceptive neurons. Our findings help to predict how nociceptive neurons encode noxious stimuli and how this encoding changes in pathological conditions, leading to pain.
