CSHC - Center for the Study of Human Cognition

Research Fellow

A cognitive neuroscientist by training, my research interests span the fields of social, cognitive and affective neuroscience. "Pain, pleasure and relief," the title of my doctoral thesis (University of Oxford, 2008), describes a main theme in my research. Namely, the description of the neural processes which underpin hedonic (subjective) sensations. 

To understand the relationship between physiology (signalling in the peripheral and central nervous system) and the subjective experience of touch, pain, taste etc., my research employs a variety of techniques, including:

• fMRI 
• Eye tracking/pupillometry
• Pharmacological challenges (oxytocin, opioid agonists/antagonists)

Importantly, I work with a bunch of wonderful fellow researchers to investigate these questions. Current collaborators include:

• Neurophysiology: Håkan Olausson, Johan Wessberg, and Dan-Mikael Ellingsen at Gothenburg University
• Pharmacology: Lars Westberg at Gothenburg University and Frode Willoch at the University of Oslo
• Hedonics:  Irene Tracey and Chantal Berna at the University of Oxford, and Tom Johnstone at Reading University
• Psychology: Bruno Laeng and Guido Biele at CSHC, University of Oslo 

Although my research centres on the healthy human brain, various pathological states are highly relevant. I am particularly interested in anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure, a key symptom in depression, schizophrenia and drug addiction. 

Pdf files of published papers can be found here.