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

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