Rena Gatzounis
Papers
8
Total Citations
151
H-Index
6
About
Rena Gatzounis is a leading experimental researcher in the psychology of pain, whose work illuminates the critical role of avoidance behavior in the transition from acute to chronic pain. Her research centers on how fear of pain fundamentally alters movement and motor behavior, and how learned avoidance can persist and generalize—even to safe activities. Gatzounis developed the innovative robotic arm-reaching paradigm, an ecologically valid tool that allows precise measurement of pain-related avoidance in controlled settings. Her most cited paper (63 citations) demonstrates how fear of pain changes movement patterns, while subsequent work explores the generalization of avoidance to novel movements and the conditions under which costly avoidance spreads. Notably, her studies on the return of avoidance after extinction have implications for exposure-based treatments, and she has investigated novel interventions such as positive affect induction to improve treatment outcomes. With a growing body of work that bridges experimental psychopathology and clinical pain science, Gatzounis is advancing our understanding of how maladaptive avoidance develops, persists, and might be overcome—offering crucial insights for improving rehabilitation and chronic pain management.
Research Focus
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