The trial lecture will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The trial lecture will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
Click here to participate in the public defence
Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Thomas Graven-Nielsen, Aalborg University, Denmark
- Second opponent: Professor Frances MK Williams, King's College London, UK
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Leiv Arne Rosseland, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Frank Becker, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Senior Consultant, Senior Researcher Kristian Bernhard Nilsen, Oslo University Hospital
Summary
The experience of pain varies considerably among individuals. Identifying individual differences that may explain the development and persistence of pain, as well as determining how to assess such individual differences holds great promise to improve personalized pain treatment. The present thesis aimed to explore individual differences in; 1) pain modulation with different assessments, and 2) experimental and clinical pain in relation to genetic susceptibility.
Individual differences in pain modulation with different assessments were investigated in a study which explored differences in two protocols for assessing conditioned pain modulation (CPM). The differences observed in the two CPM protocols raise questions about the mechanisms involved in CPM. In addition, the individual differences observed over time indicate that the protocols may not be suitable in clinical decision making on an individual level.
To explore individual differences in experimental and clinical pain in relation to genetic susceptibility, we investigated associations between selected genetic variants, experimental pain assessments, as well as clinical pain outcomes in patients with low back pain with persistent radiculopathy. We found no associations large enough to explain such individual differences.
The results from the present thesis carry information for further hypothesis about individual differences in pain modulation with different assessments, and individual differences in experimental and clinical pain in relation to genetic susceptibility. This may in turn contribute to a better understanding of pain and personalized pain treatment.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.