MRC DTP in Precision Medicine

Mechanistic Signatures of Pain Relief and Reward Across Depressive Symptom Burden

Supervisors

Dr Joana Carvalheiro, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow

Dr Andrew Bell, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow

Dr Filippo Queirazza, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow

Prof Monika Harvey, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow

Summary

Chronic pain affects more than 28 million adults in the UK and is tightly linked to depression, creating a self-reinforcing cycle: low mood complicates pain treatment, while pain worsens mood. A potential mechanism is that, in depression, the brain’s reward systems respond less to positive signals such as pain relief, thus reducing treatment benefit.

This PhD project will determine how the brain’s response to pain relief is linked to reward-system sensitivity, and how these responses vary with levels of depressive symptoms. We will use simultaneous EEG–fMRI—a cutting-edge brain imaging approach combining excellent temporal and spatial resolution—to map pain-relief signals in key reward-related brain regions. In a next step, we will test whether differences in reward sensitivity predict pain-relief responses across individuals with varying depressive symptoms. Finally, we will assess whether these brain–behaviour relationships can be used to identify distinct neurobiological subgroups.

The overarching aim is to identify brain signatures that could be used as benchmark to guide more personalised approaches to pain management in people with depression. The student will receive interdisciplinary training in multimodal neuroimaging, quantitative analysis, computational modelling, and the neuroscience of pain and reward, supported by a team spanning cognitive neuroscience, pain research and clinical psychiatry.