A01 A02 A03 A04 A05 A07 A09 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A18 A19 A21 F01 F02

A12 – The impact of inflammation on the extinction of pain-related fear in humans

Harald Engler, Sigrid Elsenbruch

Systemic inflammation interferes with learning and memory processes and may contribute to the pathophysiology of chronic pain by impairing the extinction of pain-related fear. This project aims to analyze the effects of acute and chronic inflammation on different aspects of extinction learning. We will test in healthy volunteers if acute inflammation, experimentally induced by intravenous administration of endotoxin, impairs extinction and facilitates reinstatement of conditioned pain-related fear. Effects of chronic inflammation on extinction learning will be addressed in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Guiding questions of A12:

  • Does inflammation result in enhanced acquisition of pain-related fear?
  • Does inflammation impair extinction learning and facilitate the reinstatement of pain-related fear?
  • Are the effects of inflammation on excitatory and inhibitory learning specific to pain and what are the neural correlates?
  • Is extinction learning impaired in patients with inflammatory bowel disease?
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Sigrid Elsenbruch

Projektleiterin A10, A12

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Harald Engler

Projektleiter A12

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Franziska Labrenz

Postdoc A10, A12

Ruhr-Universität Bochum / Universität Duisburg-Essen

Robert Jan Pawlik

Doktorand A12

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Hanna Öhlmann

Doktorandin A12

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Lena Nonnweiler

Doktorandin A12

Universität Duisburg-Essen

10 project-relevant publications

Benson S, Rebernik L, Wegner A, Kleine-Borgmann J, Engler H, Schlamann M, Forsting M, Schedlowski M, Elsenbruch S (2015) Neural circuitry mediating inflammation-induced central pain amplification in human experimental endotoxemia. Brain Behav Immun. 48: 222–231. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2015.03.017

Elsenbruch S, Rosenberger C, Bingel U, Forsting M, Schedlowski M, Gizewski E Altered emotional modulation of the neural response to visceral stimuli in irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2010(139): 1310–1319.

Engler H, Benson S, Wegner A, Spreitzer I, Schedlowski M, Elsenbruch S (2016) Men and women differ in inflammatory and neuroendocrine responses to endotoxin but not in the severity of sickness symptoms. Brain Behav Immun. 52: 18–26. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2015.08.013

Engler H, Doenlen R, Engler A, Riether C, Prager G, Niemi M-B, Pacheco-Lopez G, Krugel U, Schedlowski M (2011) Acute amygdaloid response to systemic inflammation. Brain Behav Immun. 25(7): 1384–1392. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2011.04.005

Grigoleit J-S, Kullmann JS, Oberbeck R, Schedlowski M, Engler H (2013) Salivary alpha-amylase response to endotoxin administration in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 38(9): 1819–1823. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.01.003

Hadamitzky M, Bösche K, Engler A, Schedlowski M, Engler H (2015) Extinction of conditioned taste aversion is related to the aversion strength and associated with c-fos expression in the insular cortex. Neuroscience. 303: 34–41. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.06.040

Icenhour A, Kattoor J, Benson S, Boekstegers A, Schlamann M, Merz CJ, Forsting M, Elsenbruch S (2015) Neural circuitry underlying effects of context on human pain-related fear extinction in a renewal paradigm. Hum Brain Mapp. 36(8): 3179–3193. doi:10.1002/hbm.22837

Labrenz F, Icenhour A, Schlamann M, Forsting M, Bingel U, Elsenbruch S (2016) From Pavlov to pain: How predictability affects the anticipation and processing of visceral pain in a fear conditioning paradigm. Neuroimage. 130: 104–114. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.064

Prager G, Hadamitzky M, Engler A, Doenlen R, Wirth T, Pacheco-Lopez G, Krugel U, Schedlowski M, Engler H (2013) Amygdaloid signature of peripheral immune activation by bacterial lipopolysaccharide or staphylococcal enterotoxin B. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 8(1): 42–50. doi:10.1007/s11481-012-9373-0

Schmid J, Langhorst J, Gass F, Theysohn N, Benson S, Engler H, Gizewski ER, Forsting M, Elsenbruch S (2015) Placebo analgesia in patients with functional and organic abdominal pain: a fMRI study in IBS, UC and healthy volunteers. Gut. 64(3): 418–427. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2013-306648