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Biased perception and learning in pain

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It is a general principle that we learn from experience, building expectations about the future that then affect perception. A new study focuses on how expectations influence learning about pain and shows that we prioritize information that confirms our prior expectations, leading to a self-perpetuating bias in judging the intensity of pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

    Katja Wiech

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  1. Katja Wiech
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Correspondence to Katja Wiech.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Wiech, K. Biased perception and learning in pain. Nat Hum Behav 2, 804–805 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0468-3

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