Dedicated to Camillo Golgi, a neuroscience pioneer, the volume deals with the process of diagnosis and the strategies of treatment of pain. The most recent data on the biochemical basis of neurotransmission are reported, and the results of updated researches in pain processing, either concerning the brainstem, the thalamus and the limbic system are analysed. The importance of the ethical aspect in decision-making during the treatment of terminally ill patients is underlined.