Michel Meulders
Papers
2
Total Citations
39
H-Index
2
About
Michel Meulders is a leading researcher in experimental psychopathology, specializing in pain-related fear and avoidance learning. His work bridges basic learning theory and chronic pain mechanisms, with a particular focus on how avoidance behaviors generalize to novel movements—a critical factor in the development and maintenance of disabling pain. Meulders’ most cited study (2019, 26 citations) introduced a robotic arm-reaching paradigm to demonstrate that instrumentally acquired pain-related avoidance can generalize to similar, but not identical, movements, revealing a key mechanism for maladaptive behavior. In his 2022 follow-up (13 citations), he further dissected the distinction between generalization of pain-related fear and avoidance, showing they follow partially dissociable patterns. These contributions have important implications for understanding why avoidance persists even when pain is no longer present, informing exposure-based interventions. Meulders’ work is highly influential in the fields of pain psychology and behavioral neuroscience, offering a rigorous experimental framework for studying how learned avoidance spreads and becomes entrenched.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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