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null Mathieu Roy, PhD

Investigator, RI-MUHC

Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, McGill University

 

Keywords

pain • emotion • motivation • music • cognition

Research Focus

My lab investigates the neural mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of pain. While specialized peripheral nerve cells are typically responsible for initiating pain, there are situations where pain can occur without nociceptor activation. This is because the subjective experience of pain depends on complex patterns of neural activity distributed over several brain regions. Indeed, pain is defined as a conscious experience, and therefore feeling pain requires assessing the short- and long-term meaning of painful sensations for one’s self. Our research aims to uncover how the brain produces pain and to find ways to alleviate it. To achieve this goal, my lab employs various brain imaging techniques such as MRI, EEG, and MEG, along with psychological and psychophysiological methods like pain ratings, response times, decision-making, nociceptive flexion reflexes, skin conductance responses, and more.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Coll, M.-P., Slimani, H., Woo, C.-W., Wager, T.D., Rainville, P., Vachon-Presseau, E., Roy, M. (2022). The neural signature of the decision value of future pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 7(119(23)), e2119931119. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35658082/

  • Vogel, T. A., Savelson, Z. M., Otto, R. A., Roy, M. (2020). Forced choices reveal a trade-off between cognitive effort and physical pain. Elife 9, e59410. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33200988/

  • Roy, M., Rainville, P., Peretz, I. (2008). Emotional valence contributes to music-induced analgesia. Pain, 134, 140-147. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17532141/

  • Roy, M., Daw, N., Shohamy, Jepma, M., Wimmer, E., D., Wager, T. D. (2014). Representation of aversive prediction error in the human periaqueductal gray. Nature Neuroscience, 17(11), 1607-1612. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35658082/

  • Wager, T. D., Atlas, L. Y., Lindquist, M. A., Kross, E., Roy, M., Woo, C.-W. (2013). An fMRI-based neurologic signature of physical pain. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(15), 1388-1397. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23574118/