PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME

Arrival of Scholars and Faculty at the Certosa di Pontignano

A short guided tour through the Certosa, its Chapel, Cloisters and Garden

Opening Ceremony

The European Pain School

Anna Maria Aloisi, School Director (Siena, Italy)

The FENS/IBRO Neurosciences School Programme

Deolinda Lima, Liaison Officer of the School Committee (Oporto, Portugal)

The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

Rolf-Detlef Treede,IASP President-Elect (Heidelberg, Germany)

With passion against pain

Gaby Erkens, Scientific Relations Management Grunenthal GmbH (Aachen, Germany)

Pain a field of science

Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

The Certosa di Pontignano and its history

Giancarlo Carli (Siena, Italy)

Monasteries, medieval forerunners of Universities and Hospitals

Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

Scholars’ self-introduction
followed by a wine reception and dinner

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

Morning Session

L1. The physiology and pathophysiology of cortical pain control

Rolf-Detlef Treede (Heidelberg, Germany)

Scholars’ oral presentations

Deconstructing pain: distinct brain pathways for sensory and cognitive modulation of pain

Choong-wan Woo (Boulder, CO, USA)

Insular cortex may protect against increased pain sensitivity in younger fibromyalgia patients

Marta Ceko (Montreal, QC, Canada)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Attenuation of pain-related behavior through blockade of neuropeptide Y Y1 and Y2 receptors in rat models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain

Sandra Kostic (Split, Croatia)

The mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone enhances morphine antinociception

Tuomas Lilius (Helsinki, Finland)

L2. Pain modulation – evolution of concepts in history

Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

Lunch in the small Cloister, free group discussions and garden walks

Afternoon Session

L3. Nociception vs. the conscious experience of pain

Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

Scholars’ oral presentations

The role of conscious and unconscious processes in conditioned analgesia

Elisa Frisaldi (Turin, Italy)

Pain processing modulation by anesthesia mode: comparison study of pentobarbital, ketamine and isoflurane effects on nociceptive responsiveness in central amygdala

Sergejus Butovas (Aachen, Germany)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

A genomics approach to identify novel pain genes

Thang Khuong (Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Chronic inflammatory pain and morphine analgesia– the involvement of microglia and interleukin-1

Keren Nitzan (Jerusalem, Israel)

L4. Kappa opioids – a unique class of narcotic analgesics

Jon Levine (San Francisco, CA, USA)

Dinner in the small Cloister

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

L5. Ascending nociceptive controls and complementary and alternative pain medicine

Jon Levine (San Francisco, CA, USA)

Scholars’ oral presentations

Symptom-specific associations between stress axis function and functional somatic symptoms in adolescents. The TRAILS study

Karin Janssens (Groningen, Netherlands)

New strategy in pharmacotherapy of osteoarthritis-related pain: multi-target drugs offer optimal intervention at endocannabinoid and endovanilloid systems

Natalia Malek (Cracow, Poland)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Exploring pain processing differences in Native Americans

Shreela Palit (Tulsa, OK, USA)

Pharmacological differentiation of the analgesics tapentadol and tramadol with special focus on neurotransmitter levels and overall analgesic activity

Tanja Drost (Aachen, Germany)

L6. “Quantal” sensations in humans, intraneural stimulation, and the problem of peripheral and central neural coding of nociceptor input

Jordi Serra (Barcelona, Spain)

Lunch in the small Cloister, free group discussions and garden walks

Afternoon Session

L7. Pain psychophysics: Turning investigator’s basic research findings into clinician’s working tools

David Yarnitsky (Haifa, Israel)

Scholars’ oral presentations

A negative correlation between hyperalgesia and analgesia in patients with chronic radicular pain: is hydromorphone therapy a double-edged sword?

Erica Suzan (Haifa, Israel)

Study of motor correlates in the functional model of empathy for pain

Giulia Bucchioni (Amiens, France)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Neural bases of social pain and mechanisms of regulation by physical pain : a study in borderline personality disordered cohort

Emilie Olié (Montpellier, France)

Self-criticism interacts with the affective component of pain to predict depressive symptoms in female patients

Sheera Lerman (Yahud, Israel)

L8. The powers and limits of the mind in pain

Geert Crombez (Ghent, Belgium)

Dinner in the small Cloister

W1 Evening workshop (after dinner)

L7. Behavioral tests & instruments in pain research
A hands-on presentation of equipment for experimental pain research

Lead by Federico Oggioni, Ugo Basile Research Apparatus, Comerio, Italy

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

Morning Session

L9. Endocannabinoids in descending antinociceptive pathways

Katarzyna Starowicz (Cracow, Poland)

Scholars’ oral presentations

Immunohistochemical study of botulinum toxin A action on central pain transmission

Ivica Matak (Zagreb, Croatia)

Prostacyclin regulates spinal nociceptive processing through cAMP induced translocation of glutamate receptors

Claus Schuh (Frankfurt, Germany)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Plasticity of dendritic properties in pyramidal neurons of the anterior cingulate cortex in a chronic pain model

Mirko Santello (Bern, Switzerland)

Feeling better: opposite somatosensory modulation in placebo improvement of pleasant and painful touch

Dan-Mikael Ellingsen (Gothenburg, Sweden)

L10. Placebo analgesia: recent insights into neurobiology and clinical practice

Fabrizio Benedetti (Turin, Italy)

Lunch in the small Cloister, free group discussions and garden walks

Afternoon Session

L11. “Catastrophizing”: thoughts that amplify pain

Geert Crombez (Ghent, Belgium)

W2 Guidelines and ethics in pain research

1) The EU directive for the use of animals in research

Roberto Caminiti (Rome, Italy)

2) Ethical motivations and limitations of pain research and treatment in humans and animals

Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

W3 Scholars’ controversial debates
Moderators: Marshall Devor and Jordi Serra

1) Resolved: Tactile allodynia is due to activity in low threshold mechanoreceptors, not sensitized nociceptors

2) Resolved: Pain is a subjective experience and cannot be reduced to activation parameters obtained from brain imaging

L12. A “pain matrix”? Pain specificity in the cortical response elicited by nociceptive stimuli

Giandomenico Iannetti (London, United Kingdom)

Dinner in the small Cloister

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

Morning Session

L13. Changing the meaning of pain experience: can pain be a reward?

Fabrizio Benedetti (Turin, Italy)

Scholars’ oral presentations

Multimodal EEG-NIRS studies of noxious and sensory stimulation in newborn infants: preliminary data

Madeleine Verriotis (London, United Kingdom)

Spinal direct current stimulation is able to modulate the temporal summation of pain at the spinal level in healthy subjects

Monica Bolla (Pavia, Italy)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Modulation of pain and spinal nociception in major depressive disorder

Ellen Terry (Tulsa, OK, USA)

The effect of chronic pain on cognitive function: preclinical and clinical investigations

Orla Moriarty (Galway, Ireland)

L14. Avoiding pain: a defensive space surrounding the body

Giandomenico Iannetti (London, United Kingdom)

Excursion to Siena Old Town

Guided tour to historical Siena, visit of the Cathedral and City Hall

Free time for Scholars in Siena / Faculty Dinner

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

Morning Session

W4. Experiments in the pain laboratory – sensory dissociation during limb ischemia

Jordi Serra (Barcelona, Spain)

Scholars’ oral presentations

The contribution of the thoracolumbar fascia to the development of low-back pain in humans

Andreas Schilder (Mannheim, Germany)

Glutamate release from trigeminal satellite glial cells is partly mediated by excitatory amino acid transporters – relevance for migraine headache

Jens Christian Laursen (Aalborg, Denmark)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

Modulation of pain and spinal nociception in major depressive disorder

L15. Pain, motility and tonic immobility in animals

Giancarlo Carli (Siena, Italy)

Lunch in the small Cloister, free group discussions and garden walks

Afternoon Session

L16. Pain facilitation from the brain

Deolinda Lima (Oporto, Portugal)

Scholars’ oral presentations

Predictability of painful stimulation modulates the somatosensory-evoked potential in the rat

Maria Schaap (Utrecht, Netherlands)

Optogenetic dissection of cortical circuits in pain

Linette Tan (Heidelberg, Germany)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

A P2X7 receptor antagonist is able to modulate activity changes after trigeminal stimulation

Zsuzsanna Bohár (Szeged, Hungary)

Sex-related differences in neuropathic mice: modulatory effects of 17β-Estradiol and glial cells

Valentina Vacca (Rome, Italy)

L17. Pain mechanisms in male and female subjects – the role of the gonadal hormones

Anna Maria Aloisi (Siena, Italy)

Dinner in the small Cloister

Guided morning exercise in the large Cloister

Breakfast

Morning Session

L18. Pain-induced changes in cognition and forebrain connectivity

Deolinda Lima and Vasco Galhardo (Oporto, Portugal)

Scholar oral presentation

Role of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the development of joint pain induced by monosodium iodoacetate

Carmen La Porta (Barcelona, Spain)

Coffee break on the Garden Terrace

W5. How to write a successful grant application

Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

W6. Evaluations of EPS 2013 by Scholars and Faculty - the FENS/IBRO questionnaires for Scholars and Faculty Suggestions and discussions on how to improve the European Pain School in the future

Lunch in the small Cloister, free group discussions and garden walks

Farewell Session and Dinner

Stay and relax at “Terme Antica Querciolaia” in Rapolano Terme, bathing in the waters of a hot mineral spring known and used by the Romans 2000 years ago.
Social Dinner in the Terme Restaurant, dancing and having fun

Departures