PROJECT: JTC 2025 - Pain: NEUROFLEX

Chronic pain represents a complex neurobiological challenge with profound implications. The NEUROFLEX consortium introduces an innovative computational framework to investigate how cognitive flexibility mediates and predicts the relationship between brain dynamics and pain and mental health phenotypes among three chronic pain disorders: chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia, and phantom limb pain. We will employ advanced neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling to develop a unified framework integrating psychological, neurobiological and neurocomputational accounts of flexible dynamics. We will conceptualize brain dynamic measures through large-scale brain attractor states which represent recurring brain activity patterns. Using machine learning, we will derive individualized pain and mental health predictions from these model-based brain features. In addition, the NEUROFLEX project will provide insights into common and distinct mechanisms across different pain disorders and mental health co-morbidities. The NEUROFLEX consortium will generate transformative insights into the neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain by integrating advanced computational neuroscience, clinical expertise and diverse patient populations. The NEUROFLEX project holds strong translational potential, identifying multidimensional "neuromarkers" that may not only predict pain but also offer modifiable targets for personalized treatments in the future.