I am an Associate Professor in Pain Neuroscience, leading the Body, Pain, and Perception Lab at the Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University. I have a background in cognitive neuroscience and study how the brain constructs pain, from its biological foundations to its psychological impact, in healthy people and in those living with chronic pain.
My research approaches the mechanisms of pain from two directions: by interrogating the brain, and by interrogating the person. On one side, I use psychophysics and neuroimaging, including fMRI as well as EEG and MEG, together with computational models, to study how the brain generates sensations of pain in acute and chronic conditions. On the other, I analyse how people describe their subjective experiences of pain, drawing on language and narrative data to learn how pain is felt and communicated.
As Group Leader, I set the research direction of the Body, Pain, and Perception Lab, secure its funding and supervise its PhD students and postdocs. The group is interdisciplinary, with members trained in cognitive science, psychology, physiotherapy and medicine, and my aim is a working environment where each researcher drives their own project while the lab shares methods and expertise. Much of our work relies on collaboration with clinical departments and research groups in Denmark and abroad.
