Helena Gunnarsson

In June 2018 I received my PhD, and now I am working as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology.

Teaching

In teaching, I am most active in courses in biological psychology, health psychology, and developmental psychology.

Research

In several research projects, I have investigated the influence of different pain states on pain perception and cognitive functions, such as psychomotor ability, sustained attention, abstract thinking, and self-control. I have investigated how experimental pain influence cognitive functions, as well as how clinical musculoskeletal pain influence different cognitive functions. Previous studies have also investigated how different clinical pain states influences pain perception and how different dimensions of pain could affect the anxiety and depression levels coexisting with clinical pain states. In ongoing projects, it has been examined how perception of pain is influenced by abstract thinking, concrete thinking, and distraction. The Pain Research Group is working towards a better understanding of how different types of pain influence our every-day thinking and functioning.

My research groups

Pain Research Group The Pain Research Group is working towards a better understanding of how different types of pain influence our everyday thinking and functioning.

Publications

Article in journal (Refereed)

Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Safipour, J., Elmqvist, C., Lindqvist, G. (2021). Different pain variables could independently predict anxiety and depression in subjects with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 21 (2). 274-282.
Status: Published
Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Agerström, J. (2021). Is clinical, musculoskeletal pain associated with poorer logical reasoning?. Pain Reports. 6 (1).
Status: Published
Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Agerström, J. (2020). Pain and social cognition : Does pain lead to more stereotyped judgments based on ethnicity and age?. Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 20 (3). 611-621.
Status: Published
Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Agerström, J. (2018). Clinical pain, abstraction, and self-control : being in pain makes it harder to see the forest for the trees and is associated with lower self-control. Journal of Pain Research. 11. 1105-1114.
Status: Published
Agerström, J., Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Stening, K. (2017). Does physical pain impair abstract thinking?. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. 29 (6). 748-754.
Status: Published
Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Grahn, B., Agerström, J. (2016). Increased deep pain sensitivity in persistent musculoskeletal pain but not in other musculoskeletal pain states. Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 13. 1-5.
Status: Published
Gunnarsson, H.E.M., Grahn, B., Agerström, J. (2016). Impaired psychomotor ability and attention in patients with persistent pain : a cross-sectional comparative study. Journal of Pain Research. 9. 825-835.
Status: Published

Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)

Gunnarsson, H.E.M. (2018). The influence of different pain states on pain perception and cognitive functions. Doctoral Thesis. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press.