Newsletter Neurocog. 1/2017 The Neurocognitive Pain Research Group (NCPRG) Year 2017

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1 Newsletter Neurocog 1/2017 The Neurocognitive Pain Research Group (NCPRG) Year 2017 With our second Newsletter Neurocog we want to inform about the successes of the last year, the presentations on conferences and about new research projects of the Neurocognitive Pain Research Group. Furthermore we will give an overview about upcoming conferences. Enjoy reading our newsletter! Ongoing Projects I Mindfulness and acceptance in chronic pain Understanding the relationship to pain-related anxiety and depression Our study started in 2016 and we are nearly finished with the data collection. We tested 80 healthy participants with different instructions (thought-suppression, acceptance, coping strategy of choice, control group) how they should deal with the experimentally induced pain in the cold pressor task (CPT). Furthermore we measured possible cognitive biases with the Recall Bias Task. We expect to finish the data collection in May 2017 so that the analysis and the publication of relevant data can begin. Recent publications Rusu AC, Pincus T (2017). Chronic pain patients perceptions of their future: a verbal fluency task. Pain. Jan; 158 (1): Rusu AC, Santos R & Pincus T (2016). Pain related distress and clinical depression in chronic pain: A comparison between two measures. Scandinavian Journal of Pain 12, Hülsebusch J, Hasenbring MI, Rusu AC (2016). Understanding Pain and Depression in Back Pain: the Role of Catastrophizing, Help- /Hopelessness, and Thought Suppression as Potential Mediators. Int J Behav Med Jun; 23(3):

2 Poster Presentations in 2016 Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der DGMS und der DGMP Berlin Dysfunctional information processing as potential mediator for depression in chronic pain On the congress in Berlin we presented a poster with the title: Dysfunctional information processing as potential mediator for depression in chronic pain. The presented study aimed to investigate the automatic recall of painrelevant information as well as the cognitions of pain patients using the Sentence Completion Test for Chronic Pain (SCP) and the Future Thinking Task (FTT). The study investigated the hypothesis that the relationship between pain intensity and depression is mediated through information processing. The results of the study indicate a high importance of negative, health related and future-oriented thinking in chronic pain patients. Furthermore the hypothesis of the Schema Enmeshment Model of Pain (Pincus and Morley, 2001) was confirmed indicating that the relationship between pain intensity and depression was mediated by dysfunctional information processing. Further research is indicated to improve the understanding of the relationship between information processing, chronic pain and depression. depression

3 Poster Presentations in 2016 Poster Presentation I : 16th World Congress of Pain Japan The mindful brain in pain: The impact of diability, mindfulness, emotion regulation and action control in depression The aim of the present study was to investigate pain-related disability, mindfulness, emotion-regulation and action control in a student sample with subclinical levels of pain and depression. We tested the predictive role of pain intensity, disability (PDI), mindfulness (FFMQ), action control (ACS) and emotion-regulation (ERQ) for depressed symptomatology (CES-D). The results showed indication that action orientation and traitmindfulness were protective dispositions against the development of clinical depression in the context of pain-related disability and persistent pain. This could facilitate a more accurate future assignment of patients to individualized therapies based on their profile to optimize the chances of therapeutic success Poster Presentation II: What are the differences in co-morbid depression in the context of chronic pain? A qualitative study to explore differences in cognitive content This study aimed to explore the content of co-morbid depression in the context of chronic pain in order to reveal qualitative differences in the content of cognitions between pain patients with co-morbid depression, pain patients without co-morbid depression and clinically depressed German patients validation of without the Attachment Style chronic Interview (ASI) pain. Qualitative content analyses were based Dipl.-Psych. on Livia in-depth Arianna Belfiore, semi-structured Heinrich Heine University, interviews using IPA. Participants with and without co-morbid depression in the context of chronic Mindfulness pain and reported acceptance in the differences context of chronic pain: in experiencing pain intensity, Understanding the relationship to pain-related anxiety temporaldepression dimensions of pain and impact on functioning. For participants with pain but without co-morbid depressed symptomatology active engagement in recovery played a pivotal role in achieving pain control and reducing suffering.

4 Presentations in 2016 Deutscher Schmerzkongress Mannheim Jun.-Prof. Adina Rusu presented a lecutre on Cognitive Biases and Depression in chronic pain on the German Pain Congress 2016 under the topic Psychological Methods: Emotion, Motivation and Pain a malign alliance? The presentation aimed to inform about the complex relationship between chronic pain and depression. First there was given an overview about comorbidity and pathogenesis. Then a definition of cognitive biases was presented and the Schema Enmeshment Model of Pain (Pincus and Morley, 2001) was introduced. Furthermore three different methods and study results were presented: the Endorsement and Recall Task, the Future Thinking Task and the Sentence Completion Task. Results of the studies are presented below: Figure 1. Proportions of negative health-related words in the current and future condition by groups (Endorsement and Recall Task; Rusu, 2008). Figure 2. Summary for negative health completions (including versus excluding pain) and negative pain completions by lenient versus severe cut-offs (Sentence Completion Task; Rusu, Pincus & Morley, 2012). depression Figure 3. Positive health-related future thinking and negative health-related future thinking composite scores by groups with strict cut-off (Future Thinking Task; Rusu & Pinucs, 2017).

5 Upoming Conferences 1. Westdeutscher Schmerztag Bergmannsheil Bochum, Germany LCC Dortmund, Germany 19. Jahrestagung der DGPSF Hannover, Germany 10th Congress of the European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC ) Pain in Europe X Kopenhagen, Denmark Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Psychologie "Translationales Denken - Perspektive für die Medizinische Psychologie" Lübeck, Germany Deutscher Schmerzkongress Mannheim, Germany depression Funding: Adina Rusu-Klappheck Assistant Professor, Head of NCPRG DFG, RUB, FORUM, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung