Research at the Stress and Pain Group

01/09/2023

48

FNR

Robert Kumsta; Pascale Engel De Abreu; Cyril Wealer; Jon Turner

Silvia Schneider, Ruhr-Universität Bochum; Office Nationale D’Enfance, FEDAS

Children raised in alternative care have been separated from their parents and placed to live in an institutional home or in family-based foster care. Many of these children have experienced severe adversity and trauma in their homes, such as physical abuse or emotional maltreatment. Children raised in alternative care are a high-risk group for poor developmental outcomes. Far too many present mental health problems, learning and language difficulties, and poor educational results. Although children in alternative care are at higher risks of mental health and learning problems than children not in care, there is a dearth of data on these children’s development and consequently their mental health and educational needs remain poorly understood. This study aims to determine how many children in the Luxembourg alternative care system present mental health problems and learning difficulties. Towards this end, the study will follow over 700 children and adolescents aged between 4 and 16 years growing up in different forms of alternative care. The study establishes basic prevalence rates of mental health and learning problems. The project also aims to discover which specific external and internal protective and risk factors are related to mental health and learning in children and adolescents in alternative care. The study will explore specific mechanisms by which early adversity and trauma may affect mental health and learning. Children will provide a DNA sample for epigenetic testing and they will complete tests of executive function. This is the first study in Luxembourg to collect these important data. It will generate essential findings that can inform policy and practice in Luxembourg. The study is also internationally relevant as it is among the first to explore relationships with a broad range of risk and protective factors including contextual and psychological factors as well as epigenetic alterations.

01/09/2021

30

FNR

Angelika Dierolf, Marian van der Meulen, Wolfgang Miltner, Claus Vögele, André Schulz

While pain is ubiquitous in all age groups, older adults are hit hardest, with an overproportional number of older adults suffering from acute and pain and its consequences. Concomitantly, the treatment for older adults is insufficient with a severe under- and mistreatment. In our aging society, this implies a severe and growing burden for our healthcare system and the society. Since pharmacological treatments are less suitable due to polypharmacy and age-related changes in drug metabolism, non-pharmacological interventions are a promising option in the pain management of older adults.
The aim of this research project is therefore to investigate how cognitive modulation of pain is altered in the older population and whether age-related cognitive decline and stress and relevant lifestyle factors influence this relationship. With a neurophysiological approach, the project focusses on three cognitive strategies of pain modulation in healthy young vs. older adults, i.e., distraction of pain, placebo analgesia and hypnotic analgesia. Moreover, influencing factors as chronic and acute stress, sleep quality and physical activity are taken into account. To gain a comprehensive insight on the underlying mechanisms of cognitive pain modulation in aging and its influencing factors, we will use EEG, peripheral psychophysiological, and endocrine measures. The understanding of age-related differences in cognitive pain modulation and its influencing factors has a direct impact on the therapeutic application by providing indications for age-specific adaptations and possible protecting factors.

01/01/2019

72

Nevro Corp

Marian van der Meulen; Frank Hertel; Fernand Anton

Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg

Electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of chronic pain has been used for decades. A recently introduced novel SCS protocol uses very high pulse frequencies and has been shown to be more effective than traditional SCS. The mechanism of action of this form of high frequency therapy (HF10) is still poorly understood. It is likely to involve spinal modulation as well as cerebral influences. In this study we address the mechanism of action of HF10 by establishing sensory profiles of patients. No previous studies have used quantitative sensory testing (QST) to prospectively investigate patients undergoing HF10 therapy. We study the functioning of somatosensory nerve fibres and of dynamic processes related to spinal cord plasticity and to activation of descending pain control pathways. Patients with chronic back and leg pain, as well as age-matched control subjects take part in the study. They undergo a QST battery at fixed time intervals (pre-treatment, during trial period, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up), and fill out questionnaires related to their pain experience and personality factors.

01/05/2023

48

Mehves Kouris; Robert Kumsta

Maike Luhmann, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

Psychological stress comes in many flavors. One major source of stress comes from psychosocial influences we are confronted with in our daily life, such as interpersonal conflict, work-related stress, or loneliness. There is large heterogeneity in the way we deal with stress. Given that so-called micro stressors (or daily hassles) have been shown to predict onset and course of mental disorders, it is important to understand why and how people differ in their susceptibility to external events. The aim of this project is to thus to understand how the exposure to work-related stress, social stress and other daily hassles influence emotions and the change of emotions across the day using an Ecological Momentary Assessment design. We will also investigate the role of genetic variability in the association between stress exposure and changes in affect using polygenic scores for stress-related disorders as moderators.

01/05/2019

48

DFG

Robert Kumsta

This project focussed on the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying the effects of early life stress and adversity on physical and mental health outcomes in later life.
We demonstrated that individuals with a history of childhood adversity exhibited altered hormonal and gene expression in response to stress, particularly in genes involved in the regulation of inflammation and immune response. Furthermore, utilising a proteomics approach, we found that the experience of adversity in childhood was associated with changes in the expression of proteins related to mitochondrial function, suggesting a potential link between early-life stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.