EPS 2015 :: Welcome

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Background

The European Pain School (EPS), founded at the University of Siena (Italy) in 2003, is the first and still the premier school intended for students working on basic science and clinical topics related to acute and chronic pain. EPS has an interdisciplinary perspective and a distinct research orientation. Beginning with the EPS 2012 cycle EPS was adopted as an educational project of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Young scientists at the Ph.D. or postdoctoral levels (or equivalent) in all fields of pain science and pain medicine are encouraged to apply.

Overview

EPS 2015 will focus on neural plasticity as a mechanism in chronic pain. Historically, nervous system function was viewed as shaped by Darwinian evolution, coded in the genome and fine-tuned by interactions with the outside world during “critical periods” of postnatal development. The characterization of the mature brain as being fixed and rigid, however, has been challenged in recent decades by evidence of continuing plasticity throughout life. In the pain arena, such neuroplasticity has been found at multiple levels from the peripheral nerves to the cerebral cortex. Thus, in the periphery, responsiveness of nociceptors may be enhanced under the influence of immune system mediators. In the CNS, mechanisms such as long term potentiation (LTP) and failure of endogenous inhibitory control systems may amplify the forward transmission of pain signals. Neuroimaging studies in patients with persistent pain reveal functional, neurochemical and even structural changes from the normal. Some of these may play a causative role in pain chronicity. Psychological processes and social interactions also contribute to the aggravation and perpetuation of pain. The entire array of neuroplastic processes ultimately shape pain experience and pain behavior, and understanding them may open avenues for prevention and treatment.

Topics

Pain hypersensitivity- peripheral vs. central plasticity
Fibromyalgia and other widespread pain conditions
Plasticity of ion channels and synaptic transmission
Transition to chronicity: what is the evidence?
Plasticity at the first central synapse of nociceptive afferents
Gonadal hormones and chronic pain
Central sensitization by afferent drive and otherwise
Do fish feel pain? Evolution of the pain system
CNS pain modulation: inhibition, facilitation and plasticity
Plasticity in TRP channel response
Views into the brain: a pain matrix?
Glial-neuron interactions and neuro-immune mechanisms in pain
The challenge of animal models of spontaneous and evoked pain
Spontaneous vs. evoked pain
Phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain
The conscious experience of pain

Faculty

Anna Maria Aloisi, Siena, Italy
Giancarlo Carli, Siena, Italy
Isabelle Decosterd, Lausanne, Switzerland
Marshall Devor, Jerusalem, Israel
Robert LaMotte, New Haven, CT, USA
Marzia Malcangio, London, UK
Flaminia Pavone, Rome, Italy
Jordi Serra, Barcelona, Spain
Judith Turner, Seattle, WA, USA
Tor Wager, Boulder, CO, USA
Edgar (Terry) Walters, Houston, TX, USA
Manfred Zimmermann, Heidelberg, Germany