Neurogastroenterology Group

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Steven Coen

Steven Coen
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Having completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Steven went on to study towards a PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. Supervised by Professor Qasim Aziz, Steven’s research focused on the role that psychological factors, such as emotion and cognition, play in the brain processing of visceral pain. Steven completed his PhD in 2006 and is now undertaking research at the Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology. He is currently expanding his investigations on the influence of psychological factors on the pain experience by assessing the influence of personality on the perceptual, autonomic, and central response to visceral and somatic pain.

Project: Exploring the Influence of Psychological Profile on Physiological Responses and Brain Processing to Visceral Pain

It is well documented that psychological factors such as attention and mood can influence an individual’s perception of pain. However, stable psychological characteristics such as neuroticism and extroversion affect the way in which an individual responds to cognitive or emotional stressors and therefore also have an effect on the pain experience. With this in mind, Steven’s current project examines the relationship between personality type, autonomic response and subjective perception following painful visceral stimulation in healthy volunteers. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence and stability of psychological phenotypes to visceral pain.

Publications:

Coen SJ, Kano M, Farmer AD, Kumari V, Giampietro V, Brammer M, Williams SCR, Aziz Q. Neuroticism Influences Brain Activity During the Experience of Visceral Pain. Gastroenterology 2011;141:909-917.

Coen SJ. When pain and hunger collide; psychological influences on differences in brain activity during physiological and non-physiological gastric distension. Neurogastroenterology & Motility 2011;23:485-489.

Coen SJ, Yaguez L, Aziz Q, Mitterschiffthaler MT, Brammer M, Williams SC, Gregory LJ. Negative mood affects brain processing of visceral sensation. Gastroenterology 2009;137:253-61.

Coen SJ, Aziz Q, Yaguez L, Brammer M, Williams SC, Gregory LJ. Effects of attention on visceral stimulus intensity encoding in the male human brain. Gastroenterology 2008;135:2065-74.

Coen SJ, Gregory LJ, Yaguez L, Amaro E, Jr., Brammer M, Williams SC, Aziz Q. Reproducibility of human brain activity evoked by esophageal stimulation using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Am.J.Physiol Gastrointest.Liver Physiol 2007;293:G188-G197.

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