Induced sickness symptoms change the behaviour of a rat. ©Huw Jones/Alamy stock photo
Induced sickness symptoms change the behaviour of a rat. ©Huw Jones/Alamy stock photo
What impact do negative experiences have on the potential side effects of a treatment?
Patients undergoing immunotherapy or chemotherapy often develop symptoms such as anxiety, depression or fatigue as side effects. These become more intense the longer the treatment lasts, and can be induced simply by entering the hospital, even before the medication is administered. How exactly is this learned development of symptoms triggered by negative treatment expectations? This project uses an animal model to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms, with the long-term objective of improving the efficiency and tolerability of treatments.
Neurobiological mechanisms of negative treatment expectations in an animal model for endotoxin-induced sickness behaviour
This project investigates the neurobiological mechanisms of negative expectation effects in an animal model for learned sickness behaviour. The effects of a previous negative treatment experience on the intensity of sickness symptoms will be analysed at behavioural, physiological and neural level. The particular importance of the central fear network and insula for the initiation and maintenance of negative expectation effects will be investigated through chemogenetic inhibition of neural activity in these areas of the brain.
Recommended reading:
Doenlen R, Krügel U, Wirth T, Riether C, Engler A, Prager G, Engler H, Schedlowski M, Pacheco-López G (2011) Electrical activity in rat corticolimbic structures after single or repeated administration of lipopolysaccharide or staphylococcal enterotoxin B. Proc Royal Soc B Biol Sci 278: 1864-1872. PubMed
Engler H, Brendt P, Wischermann J, Wegner A, Röhling R, Schoemberg T, Meyer U, Gold R, Peters J, Benson S, Schedlowski M (2017) Selective increase of cerebrospinal fluid IL-6 during experimental systemic inflammation in humans: association with depressive symptoms. Mol Psychiatry 22: 1448-1454. PubMed
Prager G, Hadamitzky M, Engler A, Doenlen R, Wirth T, Pacheco-Lopez G, Krugel U, Schedlowski M, Engler H (2013) Amygdaloid signature of peripheral immune activation by bacterial lipopolysaccharide or staphylococcal enterotoxin B. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 8: 42-50. PubMed
In close cooperation with these projects
How do anxiety and expectation control pain?
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Bingel
Where can expectations and treatment of pain be seen in the brain?
Prof. Dr. Christian Büchel
How does the prefrontal cortex process expectations of pain?
Prof. Dr. Michael Rose
How does our brain influence visceral pain?
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Elsenbruch
PD Dr. Julian Kleine-Borgmann
How is the effect of antidepressants influenced by treatment experiences?
Prof. Dr. Markus Wöhr
Prof. Dr. Rainer K.W. Schwarting
Project Lead
Prof. Dr. Harald Engler
Biologist

Dr. Laura Heiß-Lückemann
Biologist
Team
Kirsten Dombrowski
Postdoc, Biologist