Embodied Pain: Psychological, Neurophysiological and Clinical Perspectives on Body-Pain Interactions

Session Title: Embodied Pain: Psychological, Neurophysiological and Clinical Perspectives on Body-Pain Interactions

Topic: CLINICAL SCIENCE

Description: Pain is more than a symptom – pain is increasingly recognized as a complex, embodied phenomenon, intrinsically linked to the representation and perception of one’s own body. Growing insights into the bidirectional relationship between body and pain are driving both basic and applied research. Building on recent theoretical advances on body-pain interactions, this topical workshop introduces novel approaches to uncover the underlying mechanisms and to explore its therapeutic potential. For this purpose, three leading research experts will comprehensively cover key perspectives of the topic, ensuring a thorough exploration that spans from psychological and neuroscientific approaches to clinical applications.

Robin Bekrater-Bodmann, head of the Psychobiology of Chronic Pain working group at the Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain, RWTH Aachen University (Germany), will introduce key principles on how body-related cues and multisensory signals interact with fundamental nociceptive processes to shape pain perception in both clinical and non-clinical populations, with a focus on neuropathic conditions. Drawing on novel experimental data from more than 250 healthy participants, he proposes that body perception itself should be considered a stimulus of varying salience, capable of modulating nociception within the central nervous system. The theoretical and clinical implications of this new model of embodied pain processing will be discussed.

These insights will be further developed by Catherine Mercier, Research Chair in Sensorimotor Rehabilitation and Pain at Laval University (Canada). She will present psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence of altered multisensory and sensorimotor integration processes in individuals with acute (experimental) and chronic pain, including those with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia. She will further explore how these alterations relate to self-reported disturbances in body perception and to adaptation following sensorimotor perturbations. The findings suggest that perceptual abnormalities in pain populations do not necessarily result in deficits of motor control or adaptation, carrying important implications for therapeutic approaches aimed at correcting disturbed body representations in individuals with chronic pain.

New approaches to correct body representation in chronic pain will be presented in the contribution by Jennifer S. Lewis, Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the University of the West of England, Bristol (United Kingdom). She will present recent brain imaging findings in CRPS that reveal the central mechanisms linking pain and body representation, indicating a neurosignature for body perception disturbance. Insights into assessment techniques for body perception disturbances within the clinical setting will illustrate how disturbed body perceptions can be modulated by rehabilitation using targeted interdisciplinary approaches that consider contextual factors. In particular, she will emphasize the significance of virtual reality for pain treatment, while outlining anticipated directions for its future use in clinical practice.

Through these three contributions, the workshop will bridge the gap from (altered) bodily experience to neurophysiological mechanisms and clinical translation, aiming to deepen the understanding and application of principles underlying body-pain interactions. Its translational relevance lies in clarifying the pivotal link between bodily perception and pain, offering a novel conceptual framework that may foster clinical research and inform future therapeutic strategies for chronic pain.

Speakers

Robin Bekrater-Bodmann RWTH Aachen University
Germany

I studied Psychology at TU Braunschweig before completing my PhD in Neuropsychology at Heidelberg University (Germany). Following my PhD, I established an independent research programme investigating the psychobiological mechanisms of acute and chronic pain, with a particular focus on the interplay between pain perception and body representation. Since founding my research group in 2016, my research has focused on understanding how altered body perception contributes to pain and psychopathology across different clinical conditions by combining experimental, clinical, and translational approaches. As principal investigator and collaborator in several collaborative and independently led projects, I have developed broad expertise in neurobehavioural pain research. The work of my research group has been recognised with several awards from national and international pain societies. Since my appointment as Full Professor at RWTH Aachen University (Germany) in 2023, I have continued to expand this research by investigating the mechanisms underlying pain and body representation in health and disease, with the aim of translating mechanistic insights into improved approaches for pain research and treatment.

Catherine Mercier Laval University
Canada

Prof. Mercier received a B.Sc. in Occupational Therapy and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Rehabilitation) from the Université de Montréal. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Institute for Cognitive Sciences in Lyon, France. She is currently a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and Vice-Dean of Research and Innovation in Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine (Quebec City, Canada).
She holds the Canada Research Chair in Sensorimotor Rehabilitation and Pain and the Université Laval Research Chair in Cerebral Palsy, and is a former FRQ-S Emerita Scholar. Her research program focuses on the interactions among pain, sensorimotor integration, and learning, as well as on strategies to promote optimal recovery through rehabilitation.
She conducts research involving a variety of clinical populations, including individuals with chronic pain, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, and limb amputation, as well as healthy participants. Her work employs a wide range of methodological approaches, including robotics, virtual reality, brain stimulation and imaging, electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and accelerometry.
Prof. Mercier has published more than 150 scientific articles and has supervised 46 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Jenny Lewis Bath National Pain Centre, Royal United Hospitals NHS Trust, Bath, UK
United Kingdom

Dr Jenny Lewis brings extensive clinical expertise in complex pain rehabilitation through her dual roles as Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome at the Bath National Pain Centre, UK, and Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the University of the West of England.

Her clinical and research expertise focuses on innovative rehabilitation mechanisms and approaches, with particular emphasis on Body Perception Disturbance (BPD) and its relationship with pain, movement and function. She is internationally recognised for her work in BPD and was the first to define and describe BPD in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), leading to the development of the Bath Body Perception Disturbance Scale, now used internationally as a clinical assessment tool in CRPS. Her research also explores virtual reality and immersive rehabilitation techniques, brain imaging, rehabilitation outcomes, and patient engagement and co-production, with a strong focus on translating research into meaningful improvements for people living with complex pain.

Dr Lewis is Director of the Chronic Pain Health Integration Team and serves as a representative on a number of national panels.

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