The Bingel Laboratory
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Bingel and her research group focuses on the interaction between pain and cognitive processes. We have a longstanding expertise in investigating the CNS mechanisms underlying nociception, pain, and pain modulation in health and disease. In our research, we use behavioural paradigms, pharmacological modulations, as well as functional and structural brain imaging. Being particularly intrigued by the reciprocal effects of pain and cognition, we have a strong focus on translational questions such as the role of expectations and prior experiences on analgesic treatment outcomes. Our interdisciplinary research group comprises neurologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, and computer scientists and is based at the Department of Neurology at the University Medicine Essen. We are affiliated with the Erwin-L-Hahn institute for magnetic resonance imaging and the Translational Pain Research Department of the University Pain Center. Our research is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Recent News
On the 25th of April, two boys interested in science spent the day in the lab for Boys Day. We had lots of fun with the rubberhand illusion, information about studying medicine and doing science at the same time, talking about transcranial magnetic stimulation, crafting brain helmets out of paper, and measuring pain with the cold pressor task.
Receiving touch is of critical importance, as many studies have shown that touch promotes mental and physical well-being. But what is the current status quo of research? Which moderators contribute to positive effects of touch on mental and physical health? Helena Hartmann, together with collaborators from Amsterdam and Bochum, published a systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. Read the study published in Nature Human Behaviour here.
Treatment outcome is strongly influenced by treatment expectations. Modifying expectations by targeting contextual factors can substantially improve therapy success, making them a valuable focus for therapeutic interventions. Elif Buse Caliskan, Ulrike Bingel and Angelika Kunkel highlight the neurobiological underpinnings of treatment expectations as well as strategies to modulate contextual factors to optimize treatment outcomes in daily clinical settings. Their article was published in Pain Reports and can be read here.
How does our brain work? Is our knowledge sufficient to predict individual human behavior? Dr. Tamás Spisák, new Professor of Predictive Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen, is developing biomarkers. Read more about his future plans here (picture UDE/Bettina Engel-Albustin). We are so happy for him and wish him all the best in this new role!
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