Project description
Personalising the fight against chronic pain
Chronic pain affects millions of people, but each experience is personal. No two patients share the same experience even if they have the same diagnosis. Standard treatments fail because they ignore the unique wiring of individual brain networks. The ERC-funded PersoNINpain project aims to map the neural architecture using targeted magnetic pulses and electroencephalography (EEG). It will measure connectivity patterns before treatment begins in order to identify the best cortical target for non-invasive stimulation. The strategy nudges disrupted circuits toward normal function. By treating the specific brain instead of a general symptom, science makes pain therapy personal. This approach turns the mystery of pain into a map for recovery.
Objective
Chronic pain (CP) is the most prevalent disease worldwide and is a major societal challenge. Different people with the same pain condition experience it differently. Irrespective of its origin, CP is maintained by altered connectivity between brain regions, which can be modulated towards normality by effective treatment. Several pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies exist to treat pain, but 40% of individuals remain symptomatic despite treatment.
Current treatment for CP is not personalised, being delivered in a standardised regimen irrespective of patients' brain network status, which partially justifies therapeutic refractoriness. Non-invasive neuromodulation (NIN) techniques such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are used in the long-term treatment of a wide spectrum of brain disorders as an alternative to medication-exclusive regimens. NIN can modulate altered connectivity towards normal patterns and relieve symptoms with minimal side effects, but to date its application has also been non-individualized, which equally impacts its therapeutic potential.
I propose a comprehensive package of studies using measurements of local-to-global brain connectivity to individualize pain treatment. By probing different brain regions by single pulse-TMS and reading the subsequent brain oscillatory responses by electroencephalography, one can screen potential treatment targets and classify them according to their efficacy potential in a pre-treatment session. This will allow the identification of the best cortical region to be used as treatment target by rTMS, thus providing a personalized choice of the ideal entry-spot to drive brain global connectivity towards normalized patterns for each patient.
With the development local-to-general brain connectivity metrics guiding NIN treatment, PersoNINpain will provide an innovative and ground-breaking approach to transform the treatment the world’s most impactful health condition - chronic pain.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9220 Aalborg
Denmark
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