Neural Gating of Respiratory Sensations during Increasing Breathlessness

I will work in a multidisciplinary research project, funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), that examines the impact of neural and psychological mechanisms on the perception of breathlessness in healthy individuals and in patients with respiratory disease (COPD, asthma) as well as anxiety. Moreover, respective interrelations of these mechanisms with physical activity and other personality characteristics including levels of anxiety will be studied. I will carry out several studies that aim to assess these aspects in a rehabilitation context as well as in laboratory settings. A major focus is the assessment of neural activation patterns related to breathing as measured by evoked potentials in the EEG (128-channel EEG system). Other outcome measures will include exercise tests, physical activity measures, self-reports, questionnaires, and peripheral psychophysiological responses (e.g., breathing patterns). Apart from the acquisition and statistical analysis of the data, I will also be responsible for the scientific reporting of the results in international peer-reviewed journals and at scientific conferences. The conducted line of experimental studies will result in a PhD thesis that will be defended by the end of the research project.