How
does the way we think and feel change the way our brain processes
pain? Why are some people able to cope with pain while others are
unable to maintain normal functioning? What are the neural mechanisms
that underlie successful behavioral strategies for dealing with
pain?
As a clinical psychology student I am interested in how the answers to these questions can be used to improve the lives of people living with chronic pain. Together with my collaborators, I am using neuroimaging techniques to study how variables such as perceived controllability alter the neural response to pain. I am particularly interested in how individual differences in this neural response are related to the ability to cope with pain and susceptibility to clinical pain conditions such as fibromyalgia.
My work is conducted in the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at UW-Madison, under the supervision of Dr. Richard J. Davidson.
