Neuronal Mechanisms of Pain Modulation by Drive State Competition

• Applicant: Dr. Stephan Geuter
• Subject Area: Clinical Neurology; Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2015 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 275598787

Pain, thirst, and hunger are central and powerful drives shaping human behavior. Humans must fulfill the demands imposed by these drives to maintain homeostasis and to survive. Appetitive and aversive drives often compete at a time and humans have to decide which one to satisfy first. For example, when in pain and thirsty, it may be beneficial to seek water first (reward consumption) and later care about the pain. After internal drive state prioritization, suppression of the competing drive frees resources and maximizes chances for survival. Because such drives are fundamental to human behavior, studying drive state competition can provide important insights into human motivational systems. Studies on drive states in animals have identified important dopaminergic mediators of drive states and their effects on pain. However, they remain virtually unstudied in humans. This proposal aims at identifying the neuronal mechanisms underlying human drive state competition by examining interactions between an appetitive (thirst) and an aversive drive state (pain). These interactions are studied using an ecologically valid paradigm, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate analyses methods. Experiment 1 will identify brain mediators of thirst on pain modulation during drive state competition. Multivariate analyses will be used to assess drive state competition effects on neurophysiological and autonomic components of pain. Experiment 2 will use a pharmacological challenge (levodopa) and fMRI to elucidate the role of dopaminergic brain processes during drive state competition. This proposal thereby provides (i) an important translation of motivation concepts from animal research to humans and (ii) links two important brain systems (reward and pain system) by investigating their interactions.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Tor Wager, Ph.D.