Social contacts as a regulator of pain sensations.

Pain and social environment

Can positive social contacts reduce the intensity of chronic pain and will these influences be detectable in peripheral pain processing? These interesting questions about social factors on pain will be investigated in project group 5 of KFO 5001. Patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) or with bortezomib- induced peripheral neuropathy (BIPN) will be examined.  

Implementation

Using Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) – by data entry with smartphone – patients record and evaluate their social interactions in everyday life. In parallel, pathological changes in the peripheral nerves will be analyzed, and it will be determined whether social factors influence pain. A similar experiment will be performed with rats suffering from neuropathic pain. In these animal models, we will analyze social interactions in relation to pain development or resolution. 

Social deprivation

In rodents, we will analyze to what extent social deprivation affects objective peripheral markers of neuropathy in dorsal root ganglia and skin. In parallel, we will investigate whether social deprivation influences the development of pain and hypersensitivity in rodents, as well as regeneration and pain relief.

Further goals  

In the next funding period, the effects of social contacts on pain processing in the brainstem and the so-called functional connectivity will be investigated: interconnections of the individual brain areas with each other and especially with the cerebral cortex can be studied with the help of ultra-high-field 7 Tesla MRI at 7Tesla. 

Research Team P5

Head

Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Grit Hein
Professorship Translational Social Neurosciences
University Hospital Würzburg

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Claudia Sommer, MD
Speaker of KFO 5001
Consultant at the Department of Neurology
University Hospital Würzburg

Team

Annalena Jachnik M.A., Researcher

Mona Hashemianahmadi, PhD Student

Emilia Lampe, PhD Student