The Elm

The School of Dentistry's Pain Imaging Lab, led by David A. Seminowicz, PhD, is recruiting participants for a neuroimaging study on the effects of pain. This study will consist of two study visits separated by roughly one month.

Visits will be compensated at a rate of $25 per hour with the first visit expected to last one hour, 30 minutes and the second visit lasting three hours.

During the first visit, you will be asked to complete questionnaires and undergo sensory testing in which we will ask you to rate how painful heat stimuli are. During some of these painful temperatures, you also will be exposed to capsaicin, a molecule found in chili peppers. If you have any known allergies to peppers, then you may not be eligible for the current study.

At the subsequent visit, you will again be exposed to these same, painful stimuli while brain activity is collected using two noninvasive imaging methods: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). At the end of this experiment, you will be provided with a CD of your brain if you desire.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please email Debra Henke at dhenke@umaryland.edu or call the lab at 410-706-4049.