Siri Graff Leknes

Academic interests

My current and previous research projects revolve around the subjective hedonic feelings associated with rewards and punishments, and individual differences in the subjective experience of pain and pleasure. Research techniques used are functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychophysical investigations using self-report and autonomic measures. More specifically, previous projects have addressed the effects of pessimism on relief sensation and brain processing of pain and relief; the neural substrates of itch and motivation to scratch; and the effects of context on pain perception and processing (making painful sensory stimulation ‘pleasant’ or unpleasant). Current projects focus on emotional, attentional and autonomic aspects of pleasant touch and visual stimulation, in collaboration with Håkan Olausson at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Gothenburg University, and Bruno Laeng at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.

Higher education and employment history

• I am a cognitive neuroscientist, working as a Research fellow at the Department of Psychology.
• From 2008-2010 I worked as a postdoc at the universities of Gothenburg and Oslo, mentored by Professors Håkan Olausson and Bruno Laeng.
• I completed my D.Phil. on ‘Pain, Pleasure and Relief’ at the Oxford Centre for Functional Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) in spring 2008, supervised by Professor Irene Tracey.
• My academic training includes masters’ and doctorate degrees in Neuroscience (Oxford University, UK) and a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science (Exeter University, UK).

Appointments

• Associate editor, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Associate editor, Scandinavian Journal of Pain

Cooperation

Current active collaborations:

• Professors Håkan Olausson and Johan Wessberg, and Dan-Mikael Ellingsen at the University of Gothenburg (Social touch and emotion)
• Dr. Chantal Berna, Professor Irene Tracey et al. at the University of Oxford (The role of endogenous opioid signalling for pain and emotion)
• Dr. Lars Westberg at the University of Gothenburg and Hasse Walum at the Karolinska Institute (Role of oxytocin in social cognition)
• Dr Tom Johnstone at Reading University (Pain and pleasure processing)

Leknes, S., Lee, M. C., Berna, C. Andersson, J., Tracey, I. Relief as a reward: hedonic and neural responses to safety from pain. PLoS ONE 6:e17870, 2011

Leknes, S. The pain modulatory cocktail. Scandinavian Journal of Pain 2:105-107, 2011

Berna, C. Leknes, S., Holmes, E.A. Edwards, R.A., Goodwin, G.G., Tracey, I. Induction of Depressed Mood Disrupts Emotion Regulation Neurocircuitry and Enhances Pain Unpleasantness. Biological Psychiatry 67: 1083-1090, 2010

Leknes, S. and Tracey, I. Pain and pleasure: masters of mankind. In: Pleasures of the brain: the neural basis of sensory rewards, pp 320-335. Edited by Kringelbach, M and Berridge, K: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Leknes, S., Brooks, J., Wiech, K., Andersson, J., and Tracey, I. Pain relief as an opponent process: a psychophysical investigation. Eur J Neurosci. 28: 794-801, 2008

Leknes, S., and Tracey, I. A common neurobiology for pain and pleasure. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 9 (4):314-320, 2008.

Leknes, S. and Tracey, I. Hippocampus/entorhinal complex, functional imaging during pain. In Encyclopedic Reference of Pain. Edited by Willis W and Schmidt R: Verlag-Springer; 2007.

Leknes, S.G., Bantick, S., Willis, C.M., Wilkinson, J.D., Wise, R.G. and Tracey, I., Itch and motivation to scratch: an investigation of the central and peripheral correlates of allergen- and histamine-induced itch in humans. J. Neurophysiology 97: 415-422, 2007.