From Christian Science to the Placebo Effect: A Chat with Tor Wager
Australian Pain Society, June 2019
Tor Wager, PhD, is a Professor of psychology and neuroscience and the Director of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Colorado, Bolder. Together with his lab, Wager investigates the pain pathways underlying the generation and regulation of pain and emotion. Wager sat down with Lincoln Tracy, a research fellow from Monash University, Australia, at the 2019 Australian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting, which took place April 7-10, 2019, on the Gold Coast, Australia. Wager discussed how his Christian Science upbringing contributed to his interest in the placebo effect, how clinical trials need to place greater emphasis on psychosocial context, and the importance of taking an anti-competitive stance in research.
