COPAS

Investigating the influence of stress on cognitive pain modulation, by measuring cortisol levels and heart rate variability

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Aug 2024
Duration in months:

24
Funding:

8xav�� of Luxembourg
Principal Investigator(s):

Marian VAN DER MEULEN

About

Cognitive pain modulation occurs when a person experiences pain relief or pain aggravation through cognitive mechanisms, such as regulating mood, beliefs or attention to pain. These effects significantly contribute to the efficacy of pharmacological pain treatment. One challenge is that the ability to modulate pain through these mechanisms varies largely across individuals, and there is an urgent need to better understand this variability. Therefore, recent research efforts have focused on elucidating the factors influencing individual differences in the efficacy of cognitive pain modulation. Being able to predict the degree to which someone can modulate pain cognitively, could guide both the selection of adequate treatment methods as well as the dosage of pharmaceutical interventions, and could enable better control of these effects in scientific settings. In this study, we will explore the role of stress in explaining some of the variability in cognitive pain modulation, while also probing the potential modulating role of sex. Healthy young participants are undergoing a pain modulation manipulation, while their baseline and acute stress levels are measured, through the analysis of questionnaire responses, cortisol levels and heart rate variability.