Espen Bjørkedal

Espen Bjørkedal serves as a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Education at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Psychology. He is an active member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group and previously directed the Bachelor of Psychology program.

His educational background includes an MA in Philosophy from the University of Bergen (Norway), an MA in Philosophy of Cognitive Science from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom), and a PhD from UiT's Department of Psychology.

Bjørkedal's research focuses on the placebo effect, particularly how psychological factors like expectations influence pain perception and analgesia. His work bridges cognitive neuroscience, pain research, and philosophical aspects of psychology, employing methodologies including balanced placebo designs, conditioned pain modulation, and electrophysiological measurements. His publications demonstrate consistent exploration of placebo mechanisms, with recent work expanding into systematic reviews of active placebo controls in clinical trials.

His extensive publication record reveals a clear trajectory examining the interaction between psychological variables (expectancy, anxiety, emotional states) and physiological pain responses, with particular attention to individual differences and gender effects. The research spans clinical applications, methodological innovations in placebo research, and fundamental understanding of mind-body interactions in pain processing.

Bjørkedal actively supervises Bachelor and Master thesis students while contributing to educational development through initiatives like flipped classroom approaches for academic skills instruction. As part of the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, he collaborates on interdisciplinary research with significant implications for clinical pain management and treatment optimization.