Javier is a biomedical engineer and former PhD student at Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he focused on neurostimulation for treating epilepsy, serving as a bridge to study pain. Building on this background, he is involved in research aimed at improving pain management. Traditional neuromodulation often operates in an open-loop manner, delivering stimulation without considering the patient’s physiological state. Our project addresses this by developing a closed-loop system that uses real-time physiological signals to guide transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). By adapting stimulation to the body’s responses, this approach offers more timely and effective pain relief, creating a personalized and dynamic strategy for neuromodulation.

The first objective of my PhD was to characterize, in humans, the different afferent fiber populations and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels responsible for the ability to perceive innocuous and noxious cold. The second objective of my PhD was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of recording cool-evoked brain potentials (CEPs) to assess the function and integrity of the thermonociceptive system.

Arthur Courtin is now postdoc at Aarhus University.

Using electrophysiological recordings and experimental manipulations, I study how ongoing brain oscillations shape the perception of pain. My current work includes intracerebral EEG recordings to examine how oscillatory activity in the human insula relates to sustained thermonociceptive stimulation. In collaboration with the University of Trento (IT), I also explore the link between oscillations and pain from a more causal perspective by modulating cortical excitability with a brain-state-dependent high-frequency rTMS paradigm and assessing its impact on perception and processing of thermonociceptive stimuli.

Iqra completed her PhD within the framework of MSCA-ITN H2020 project multitouch. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher working jointly with Giulia Liberati at UCLouvain and Jan Van den Stock at KU Leuven as part of the Weave FWO project. Her post-doctoral research investigates the neural representations underlying thermoception and social cognition within the insular cortex. By combining intracerebral EEG recordings in epileptic patients with insular implants and fMRI–behavioral assessments in patients with frontotemporal dementia, this project aims to unravel how the insula supports thermoceptive and socioemotional functions, and how their disruption contributes to neurodegenerative disorders.

Our research project is centered on the innovative field of neuromodulation for pain intervention by using the transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to modulate the oscillatory activities within neuronal circuits to understand how neuromodulation affects both the oscillatory brain activity, measured through electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, and the subjective experience of pain. We will incorporate machine learning algorithms and connectivity analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying neural processes associated with pain. The ultimate goal of our project is to develop a novel closed-loop neuromodulation system. This system will dynamically stimulate the brain based on real-time EEG activity, creating a responsive and potentially more effective solution for pain management. Our work not only contributes to the understanding of brain oscillations in pain perception but also opens new avenues for more effective, personalized therapeutic interventions for pain management.

When we feel pain, our brain automatically locates it but also detects, through our vision, what provokes it. Thus it coordinates different sensory modalities: touch and perception of pain to monitor our body, and vision to track our environment. If vision and feeling pain are coordinated by the brain, what happens if one of these two senses is disrupted? Lieve Filbrich tries to answer that question. We want to analyse what happens at the visual level if we suffer chronic pain, and more specifically in the space that surrounds the afflicted limb.