This video was selected as part of the scientific popularization competition “Highlight on the next generation 2020” organized by the QPRN. In this video, students from the Quebec Network of Junior Pain Investigators (QNJPI) present their research project.
Did you know that your brain emits electricity? The same electricity that lights the bulbs in your house! Electricity spreads in the form of waves like waves of energy around you. The rhythm of these waves changes according to your emotions. In my laboratory, we are trying to measure these waves coming out of your brain in order to guess how you feel. Perhaps you, who can communicate your emotions freely, do not see why we are developing this technology. But imagine for a moment lying in a hospital bed and having excruciating pain in your legs, but not being able to open your mouth to say that you are in pain. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Well, this is the reality of many children who are physically unable to communicate their pain. My team and I use a headset to understand what happens to the electricity in the brains of children like you when the temperature of a stimulus approaches the pain threshold. Don’t worry, it doesn’t really hurt! It’s like going to the spa: hot, cold and relaxation. If we succeed, we could put this helmet on the heads of non-verbal children and assess if they are in pain.
