Thèse Douleur Sociale et Hypersensibilité Sensorielle dans le Trouble de la Personnalité Borderline des Mécanismes aux Interventions Thérapeutiques H/F - Doctorat.Gouv.Fr

Établissement : Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 École doctorale : NSCo - Neurosciences et Cognition Laboratoire de recherche : CRNL - CENTRE DE RECHERCHE EN NEUROSCIENCES DE LYON Direction de la thèse : Cecilia NEIGE ORCID 0000000306526372 Début de la thèse : 2026-10-01 Date limite de candidature : 2026-05-31T23:59:59 This PhD project examines whether Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by a generalized hypersensitivity to aversive signals across both social and sensory domains. While BPD is well known for heightened emotional reactivity and increased sensitivity to social rejection, accumulating evidence suggests alterations in the processing of aversive sensory inputs as well. However, the extent to which these sensitivities share common mechanisms remains unclear.
To address this question, the project combines Electroencephalography (EEG) with the Cyberball paradigm to investigate neural responses to social exclusion, with a particular focus on theta-band activity. In parallel, behavioral assessments will quantify sensitivity to olfactory stimuli varying in emotional valence. The project will then test whether individual differences in sensitivity to negative odors are associated with neural and subjective responses to social pain.
Finally, adopting a translational perspective, the project will evaluate whether a combined intervention, pairing Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) with pleasant olfactory stimulation, can attenuate social pain and modulate its neural correlates.
Overall, this work aims to advance an integrated account of hypersensitivity in BPD by bridging social and sensory domains, and to inform the development of novel, mechanism-based therapeutic interventions. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric condition associated with high levels of emotional distress, functional impairment, and increased risk of self-harm and suicide. A central feature of BPD is an increased sensitivity to social rejection, often described as heightened social pain. Beyond interpersonal dysfunction, recent evidence suggests that BPD may also involve altered processing of emotionally salient sensory information, particularly for aversive stimuli. However, these two domains (social and sensory processing) have largely been studied independently. It therefore remains unclear whether they reflect a shared underlying vulnerability to aversive signals, or distinct mechanisms.
EEG; mesures comportementales; tests olfactifs; tVNS

Nous recherchons un candidat fortement motivé, présentant un intérêt marqué pour les neurosciences cliniques et la psychopathologie. Le candidat devra disposer de solides bases en psychologie, en neurosciences ou dans un domaine connexe, ainsi que d'une volonté de s'inscrire dans une démarche de recherche interdisciplinaire combinant des approches expérimentales, cliniques et neurophysiologiques.
Une expérience dans un ou plusieurs des domaines suivants constituera un atout : électroencéphalographie, neuromodulation, psychologie expérimentale, psychophysiologie et/ou perception sensorielle.
Compte tenu de la dimension clinique du projet, un intérêt pour le travail avec des populations de patients est indispensable. Une expérience préalable en milieu clinique ou dans des recherches impliquant des populations psychiatriques serait appréciée.