Effects of experimental endotoxemia on the neural processing of visceral and somatosensory stimuli

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Sven Benson; Professorin Dr. Sigrid Elsenbruch
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239341606

In the recent years, a growing number of studies have documented the relevance of systemic inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of various pain associated disorders. We previously showed at the behavioral level that an endotoxin-induced transient systemic inflammatory response with increased release of pro-inflammatory cytokines lowered visceral sensory and pain thresholds in healthy humans. However, the neural processing of visceral or somatic pain stimuli during a peripheral inflammation are incompletely understood. Therefore, this proposed functional magnetic brain imaging (fMRI) study will combine experimental endotoxemia and brain imaging to elucidate the relevance of inflammation in central mechanisms of hyperalgesia in healthy subjects. Our hypothesis is that increased pain sensitivity in response to a systemic immune activation is related to an increased activation in primary pain processing networks and neural networks mediating affective-emotional components of the pain response. This research project will contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain and might form the basis for new treatment options.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants