PhD defence Maite Mathilde van der Miesen

Keywords: (Chronic) pain, Individual differences, Habituation, Neurofeedback

"Tracking pain over time: Individual differences in habituation and sensitization to pain"

This thesis investigates how people respond differently to repeated pain stimuli, with the aim of developing a new treatment for chronic pain using neurofeedback. Neurofeedback is a method in which individuals learn to influence their brain activation using mental strategies. This thesis describes both literature and experimental research, in which pain experience and brain activation (measured with fMRI) are studied. The results show that pain responses vary greatly between participants and are influenced by factors such as expectations. Some people get used to pain (habituation), while others react more and more strongly (sensitization), and these responses are not always stable over time. Despite earlier ideas, the evidence for reduced habituation in patients with chronic pain is inconsistent. In addition, fMRI findings reveal a decrease in activation in pain-related brain regions as an indication of habituation. Furthermore, this thesis identifies suitable stimuli for a neurofeedback paradigm. This paradigm offers a novel way to modulate pain based on brain activation and represents a first step toward a new, personalized treatment for chronic pain.

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