How Expectations Shape the Experience of Chronic Pain

At the 2018 World Congress on Pain, the biennial meeting of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), researchers from around the world gathered to discuss the latest pain research. This RELIEF podcast features Howard Fields, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology and physiology emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco. At the Congress, Fields delivered the John J. Bonica Award lecture, “How Expectations Shape Pain Perception.” Fields sat down for a podcast at the meeting with freelance journalist Stephani Sutherland to discuss the themes of his talk, in particular how motivations, expectations and decision making fit into the experience of chronic pain.