Science at UM [S02-ep15]: From Chronic Pain to 3D Microtomography
This week on *A l’UM la science*, Cyril Rivat, a researcher atthe INM, joins us to explain the mechanisms of chronic pain. Our report takes you inside a 3D micro-CT scanner. Finally, Agnès Pesenti reveals the theme of the next Science Bar. The show airs on Divergence FM 93.9 every Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Like me, you’ve probably heard the saying,“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Like me, you may have wondered about the validity of this saying. Indeed, just as a plate that has cracked after being hit will always remain more fragile than one that hasn’t been struck, it seemed to me as I grew up that every new blow of fate, every new shock, rather than making us more resilient, only reactivated old wounds, causing not only apprehension but also a form of hypersensitivity.
What if the same were true for pain? What if exposure to repeated pain, rather than desensitizing us to it, actually made us more sensitive to it? In 2014, a large-scale survey reported that 20 million French people were affected by so-called chronic pain. Of those 20 million, 40% reported experiencing direct repercussions at work, and 28% stated that the pain was sometimes so severe that it caused them to have morbid or suicidal thoughts.
Proof that sometimes what doesn't kill us just makes us want to die.
For some thirty years now, public authorities have taken up the issue of pain by establishing a legal framework to improve its management. Science has also made significant progress. In 2019, researchers at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience identified the mechanisms responsible for the onset and persistence of chronic neuropathic pain by pinpointing the role played by the FLT3 receptor and its partner, the F molecule (When pain persists).
To take things a step further, this team has now focused on the transition from acute to chronic pain and on the link between repeated exposure to pain and depressive disorders. Cyril Rivat is a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience and is a co-author of this study, which was published in *Progress in Neurobiology* last January.
Read the study:“Activation of neuronal FLT3 promotes exaggerated sensory and emotional pain-related behaviors that facilitate the transition from acute to chronic pain”
In the second half of the program, we’ll visit the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier to learn how a 3D micro-CT scanner works.
Finally, our last-minute guest has become a regular: Agnès Pesenti from the Science Outreach program will be joining us to introduce the next Science Bar, which will explore the question:“Where does quantum physics hide in our daily lives? ” See you on February 16 at 8:30 p.m. at Le Dôme.
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Director: Tom Chevalier
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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