Pain and the Brain: Professor Nicholas Rawlins speaks at Second Formal Hall of Fall Term

The second Formal Hall Dinner of the term was held on 7 December. Morningside welcomed former Oxford Pro-Vice Chancellor for Development and External Affairs and Professor of Experimental Psychology Nicholas Rawlins. Professor Rawlins gave a talk on "Pain and the Brain: Fears and Phantoms".

In his talk, Professor Rawlins presented the case of Phineas Gage, "the most famous skull in neuroscience", and explained some of his recent work around anxiety, expectation, and pain. Professor Rawlins explained that the presence of anxiety can exacerbate pain, which is an important consideration for people with chronic pain. In addition, Professor Rawlins showed the different areas of the brain that are engaged in expecting and experiencing pain. Rawlins then took questions from students about experimental design and research ethics.