Name: Assistant Professor Laura Symonds

Department: Psychiatry and radiology

Title of research project: The Effect of Mood on Pain Perception

Date of research: Symonds has been working on this project, which looks at depression and chronic pain, for the past five years, and it is continuing to evolve into new studies.

Basics of the project: Symonds is looking at why people who have depression are at risk for developing chronic pain and why people who have chronic pain are at risk for developing depression.

The study involves inducing moods and pain stimuli in people and watching how their brains react using a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine.

Her research team has found that when a sad mood is induced, chronic pain feels more intense than when a happy mood is induced, even if the stimulation is set at the same intensity.

"The brain is telling them it hurts more, and what we are trying to figure out is how does the brain do that," Symonds said.

As the subject reacts to the pain, the researchers watch how the brain modifies it, Symonds added.

"One thing it's leading us toward is a real interest in how people can consciously change how a sensation feels," she said.

Social impact of research: The goal of the project is to help people at risk for chronic pain disorder or depression, Symonds said.

She also hopes to decrease that risk as a result of her research by understanding how the disorders are connected.

"Hopefully we will be able to give people ideas on how to modify pain and depression," she said.

Grants and funding: The cost of the project is about $100,000 per year. It is being funded by MSU and a grant from the National Institutes of Health.