IMRF 2023 Satellite Symposium: Pain & vision, a crucial interaction to optimize threat detection and body protection
26-06-2023 - 09:15
Seminar and meetings
Protecting the body against stimuli that threaten its physical integrity is essential for adaptation and survival. Interactions between somatic and non-somatic stimuli are useful, among other things, to represent and perceive the expanded representation of the body that encompasses its immediate surroundings, namely the peripersonal space (PPS). PPS is thought to create a line of defense to protect the body against physical threats. However, PPS research has mostly focused on the interactions between visual and innocuous tactile stimuli, with very little attention given to the role of nociception and pain in multisensory interactions. Nociception constitutes the prototype of a defensive system because it characterizes the nervous processes specifically involved in the detection of potentially damaging sensory events usually perceived as painful. In addition, the tactile and nociceptive systems have different behavioral purposes since touch optimizes the actions of manipulating harmless objects while nociception facilitates defensive responses to protect the body against threats. The objective of the present symposium is to present an overview of recent studies that investigated the cognitive and physiological mechanisms underlying the interactions between stimuli specifically activating the nociceptive system and visual stimuli approaching or occurring near the body. We will also present studies on the impact of visual-nociceptive interactions on the representation of the body and the excitability of the motor system at spinal, subcortical and cortical levels. These studies use different approaches, from animal models to studies in humans, combining behavioral and neurophysiological methods. Finally, we will present clinical evidence to demonstrate the critical importance of multisensory interactions for both furthering understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain and developing treatments for pain relief.
contact: pain.vision.symposium.2023@gmail.com
Sara Coppi (Karolinska Institute, Sweden), Lieve Filbrich (KU Leuven, Belgium), Carlotta Fossataro (University of Turin, Italy), Monika Halicka (UCLouvain, Belgium), Valéry Legrain (UCLouvain, Belgium), Caitlin Naylor (University of Bath, UK), Sara Touj (McGill University, Canada), Avgustina Kuzminova (UCLouvain, Belgium)
https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ions/evenements/imrf-2023-satellite-symposium.html
468125087642fdb97aad7f_pain-vision-symposium.pdf
Institute of Neuroscience, Avenue Hippocrate 57
Room Gery Cori, Laennec Tower
Floor number :0
Brussels