Neuropathic pain is a major, debilitating secondary health condition after spinal cord injury (SCI). It likely involves abnormal brain–spinal interactions, including spinal hyperexcitability and altered pain modulation in the brain, but evidence in humans is still missing due to the lack of imaging protocols to measure spinal cord activity.
In this multicentre study (Swiss Paraplegic Research / Balgrist University Hospital), we will investigate neuropathic pain in SCI using brain and spinal cord fMRI. After setting up and validating a novel lumbosacral cord fMRI protocol across the two centres, we will assess spinal sensitisation and abnormal brain activity linked to neuropathic pain in individuals with SCI. As part of the PhD thesis, the student is expected to take an active role in all the aspects of the project, including study conceptualization and design, preparation of the ethical application, data collection and analysis, and publication of the results.
