Investigating Composite Biomarkers for Pain Catastrophizing

Pain is a complex, multidimensional, and subjective experience; and although, investigators use a single word "pain", to describe our perception, multiple mechanisms contribute to the generation and maintenance of pain. To help diagnosing and improving pain management, there is a need for developing tools. These tools may include measurements of substances, or biomarkers, in the blood; e.g. small molecules called microRNA and proteins. In these experiments, the investigators would like to investigate how the psychological response to stress and pain alters the impulses in the brain and the content of microRNA and proteins in the blood. The future aim is to identify patients in high risk of developing and maintaining chronic pain and to be able to treat chronic pain efficiently.