Towards a mechanism-specific intervention of thalamo-limbic pain processing (B04)

• Subject Area: Human Genetics ; Anatomy and Physiology ; Clinical Neurology; Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology ; Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: since 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 255156212

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) facilitate pain chronification and comorbidity with mental disorder. Human-rodent tandem project B04 found in the second funding period that ACE-dependent thalamolimbic circuit plasticity drives chronic pain and mental comorbidity and will now address in a translational approach whether non-invasive bilateral stimulation can desensitize thalamolimbic circuits using in-vivo fiber photometry, optogenetics, MRI and ecological momentary assessments in mouse models and pain patients. In the long term, these insights will be translationally put to use to optimize bilateral stimulation e.g. during EMDR psychotherapy for towards improved pain relief in chronic pain patients.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1158: From nociception to chronic pain: Structure-function properties of neural pathways and their reorganisation
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Dr. Ainhoa Bilbao, until 6/2019; Professor Dr. Rainer Spanagel; Professor Dr. Jonas Tesarz, since 7/2019; Professorin Dr. Heike Tost, since 7/2019; Dr. Wolfgang Weber-Fahr, until 6/2019; Dr. Sebastian Wieland, since 7/2019