Doctors perceive some patients’ pain differently. Can neuroscience explain why?

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A recent Inquirer article featured our lab director, Dr. Elizabeth Losin, exploring why doctors sometimes perceive patients’ pain differently based on race, gender, or other social factors. Her research shows that pain is not just biological — it’s shaped by social context, expectations, and even the doctor’s own brain.

Using neuroimaging and behavioral studies, Dr. Losin’s work finds that doctors often unconsciously downplay pain in certain groups, not out of malice, but because of how empathy and decision-making are regulated in the brain. These insights help us better understand—and begin to close—the gap in pain treatment disparities.

Article here👉 Penn State is studying racial and gender bias in pain care with neuroscience

Dr. Elizabeth Losin Presents at the 2025 Big Ten Neuroscience Symposium

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We’re excited to share that our PI, Dr. Elizabeth Losin, recently presented at the 2025 Big Ten Neuroscience Symposium, which was hosted right here at Penn State!

Her talk was titled “The doctor-patient relationship and pain disparities: Sociocultural and neural mechanisms.” In it, she shared some of her work on how social and cultural factors—like race, background, and trust—can shape the way pain is experienced and treated, both in the brain and in real-life doctor-patient interactions.

It was a great opportunity to highlight the kind of research we’re doing in the lab, and we’re so proud to have her represent us at such an important event.

Way to go, Dr. Losin!

May 2025 welcomed Our new Postdoc! Welcome Back, Suhwan!

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We’re so excited to welcome Dr. Suhwan Gim back to the lab! Suhwan was with us from October 2021 to December 2022 as an exchange scholar, funded by the Biomedical Global Leadership Training Program from the South Korean government. He officially rejoined us as a postdoc in May 2025, and we couldn’t be happier to have him back.

Suhwan earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), where he worked with Dr. Choong-Wan (Wani) Woo in the COCOAN Lab—one of our amazing collaborators. His research looks at how things like our social environment, culture, and background shape our health and how we think and feel.

We’re really looking forward to learning from Suhwan and diving into new research together—but also to hanging out, sharing good food, and trying new restaurants. So far, he said Tasty K ain’t bad!

Welcome back, Suhwan—you’ve been missed!

We have begun recruiting for our various research projects, check them out!

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At the moment, the SCN lab has three ongoing projects! They include:

Check to see if you are eligible to participate!

If you have any questions about our research studies, please email us at losinlab@gmail.com.

Dr. Elizabeth Losin on Why Women Suffer More and Get Less Relief

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Pain is a universal human experience, but not all pain is treated equally. Dr. Elizabeth Losin recently spoke with National Geographic about a critical but often overlooked issue: women experience more pain than men, yet they receive less effective treatment.

For decades, medical research operated on a one-size-fits-all approach, largely basing drug efficacy on male physiology. It wasn’t until 1993 that the National Institutes of Health even required women to be included in clinical trials. The result? Women’s pain remains both understudied and undertreated.

Dr. Losin highlights that differences in biology—particularly hormonal and immune system factors—affect how pain medications work in women. Many common pain relievers, from NSAIDs to opioids, don’t provide the same level of relief for women as they do for men. Compounding the issue, women are more likely to have their pain dismissed by doctors, leading to delayed treatment and prolonged suffering.

Beyond medication, the social expectations placed on women—often juggling work, caregiving, and household responsibilities—further exacerbate their struggle with chronic pain. As Dr. Losin notes, self-advocacy is crucial: “When we interact with our medical system, we have to really advocate for ourselves because it doesn't necessarily happen on its own.”

The conversation around pain treatment is changing, but much more work remains.

Read the full National Geographic article here

New Paper Published!

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Congratulations to the lab team and co-authors Morgan Gianola, Maria M. Llabre, and Elizabeth A. Reynolds Losin on the recent publication of their article, "Language Dominance and Cultural Identity Predict Variation in Self-Reported Personality in English and Spanish Among Hispanic/Latino Bilingual Adults," in the Journal of Personality Assessment!


This study provides valuable insights into how language dominance and cultural identity affect personality self-reports among bilingual Hispanic/Latino individuals. Key findings revealed that participants exhibited higher levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism in English than in Spanish, while language dominance influenced levels of extraversion depending on whether they were using their dominant language. Additionally, stronger U.S.-American identity correlated with higher extraversion and conscientiousness and lower neuroticism, while Hispanic identity positively related to agreeableness in both languages.

The implications of this research extend to bilingual personality assessments and understanding cultural influences on self-perception. These findings could enhance culturally-sensitive approaches in fields like mental health and healthcare, supporting better assessments and personalized care for bilingual populations.

Congratulations again on this impactful contribution to the field, Morgan and co-authors!

SCN Lab at the US Association for the Study of Pain

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Dr. Losin and Theoni (not pictured) presented their posters at the US Association for the Study of Pain. Dr. Losin’s poster was titled “Clinician’s Demographic Pain Stereotypes Predict Their Assessment of Patient Pain.”

SCN Lab at Social and Affective Neuroscience

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Dr. Losin gave a talk and presented a poster during this conference and Theoni presented her poster titled “The Role of Socioeconomic Status of Clinicians’ Neighborhood in Pain Assessment and Treatment Decisions: Psychological and Brain Mechanisms.”

SCN lab at Society for Neuroscience 2023 in DC!

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Nikta presented a poster titled Brain Mechanism Underlying Clinician Pain Perception!