Topic: nociceptive stimuli

Pain perception is a warning signal enabling animals to preserve their body integrity. When pain persists over time, the brain needs to learn to predict its temporal evolution in order to minimize harm. Whereas several studies have already shown the effects of experience and expectations on responses to isolated nociceptive stimuli using axiomatic approaches, it remains largely unknown how individuals can learn to predict a stream of nociceptive events and how these processes are implemented in the brain. To clarify these aspects, we exposed healthy human participants (n = 31) to probabilistic

In this talk, Dr. Schweinhardt will discuss top-down (i.e. cerebral) modulation of the perception and processing of nociceptive stimuli using selected examples in chronic pain patients as well as healthy subjects. Data on activity-dependent central sensitization will be presented as a case of bottom-up pain modulation. Finally, Dr. Schweinhardt will present a new line of research with which she aims at studying the interaction of top-down and bottom-up pain modulation.