Jewel White

All Publications

• Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination, Psychological Distress, and Pain Level in Latino Pediatric Patients with Chronic MSK Pain Del Rio, M., Cashman, C., Chang, A., Gill, J., Hill, A., McGinnis, E., McGinnis, R., Shu, C., Aghaeepour, N., Bailes, A., Cheng, M., Davis, A., Masood, S., Roti, O., Simons, L., White, J. OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. 2026: 109

  View details for Web of Science ID 001744393400149

• Modulatory Effects of Physical Activity on the Relationship Between Pain Processing And Clinical Characteristics in Youth with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study Bailes, A. H., White, J. N., Moayedi, M., Coghill, R. C., Stinson, J., Angst, M. S., Aghaeepour, N., Gaudilliere, B., Lopez-Sola, M., King, C. D., Simons, L. E. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. 2026

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106030

  View details for Web of Science ID 001746783200034

• Baseline Psychological Profiles Associated with Distinct Trajectories of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Youth Masood, S., Davis, A., White, J. N., Moayedi, M., Coghill, R. C., Stinson, J., Angst, M. S., Aghaeepour, N., Gaudilliere, B., King, C. D., Lopez-Sola, M. L., Simons, L. E. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. 2026

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106049

  View details for Web of Science ID 001746783200098

• Substance Use Trajectory Patterns and Mood in Youth with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Findings from the Signature for Pain Recovery in Teens Cohort White, J. N., Moayedi, M., Coghill, R. C., Stinson, J., Angst, M. S., Aghaeepour, N., Gaudilliere, B., King, C. D., Lopez-Sola, M., Simons, L. E. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. 2026

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpain.2025.106064

  View details for Web of Science ID 001746783200007

• Context-dependent placebo hypoalgesia through observational learning: the role of empathy in immersive and non-immersive environments. NPJ digital medicine White, J. N., Watson, L., Wang, Y., Colloca, G., Heagerty, J. M., Li, S., Brawn, B., Varshney, A., Shafir, R., Belleï-Rodriguez, C. É., Colloca, L. 2026

  Abstract

  Digital environments are increasingly used to study social and pain-related behaviors. Empathy and contextual factors influence observationally induced placebo analgesia. We tested whether state empathy (i.e., immediate affective and cognitive responses to another's experience) differs when observing a demonstrator in immersive VR versus 2D video, and whether this modulation affects placebo hypoalgesia. Forty-seven participants observed a human or avatar demonstrator receiving painful stimulation with or without placebo, then experienced the same stimulations. Observation induced significant placebo hypoalgesia for pain intensity and unpleasantness. Human demonstrators evoked greater cognitive empathy, while placebo treatments reduced empathy across contexts. Analgesic effects were stronger in 2D after observing humans, but in VR, avatars induced greater placebo effects. Placebo responsiveness was related to trait empathy in the VR-Human condition; however, state empathy did not mediate the effect. Our findings highlight that demonstrator characteristics and immersion critically shape the social transfer of placebo effects.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41746-026-02373-3

  View details for PubMedID 41593355

• Effects of childhood adversity on socially learned placebo analgesia in virtual reality: A cross-sectional study. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences Watson, L., Wang, Y., White, J. N., Shafir, R., Colloca, G., Heagerty, J. M., Li, S., Brawn, B., Varshney, A., Chen, S., Colloca, L. 2025

  Abstract

  Early life adversity (ELA), indexed through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), is associated with long-term alterations in emotion regulation, stress responsivity, and social learning-factors that may shape learned pain modulation. Social observation in immersive virtual environments offers a powerful way to investigate these mechanisms. To examine whether ELA influences social observation-induced placebo analgesia and empathy responses in immersive and non-immersive contexts. Adults with self-reported low versus high ACE exposure completed an observational learning task in immersive virtual reality (VR) or a non-immersive format. Participants observed Human or Avatar demonstrators experiencing pain relief and then underwent self-pain testing. Measures included socially induced placebo analgesia and affective and cognitive components of state empathy. Individuals with high ACE exposure showed stronger social observation-induced placebo analgesia, particularly within immersive VR. High ACE participants exhibited reduced affective state empathy, while cognitive empathy remained comparable to the low ACE group. Elevated ELA is unexpectedly associated with enhanced responsiveness to socially learned placebo analgesia, especially in immersive VR settings. These findings highlight how early adversity may shape sensitivity to socially transmitted treatment cues, with implications for the design of VR-based therapeutic interventions.

  View details for DOI 10.64898/2025.12.04.25341572

  View details for PubMedID 41404275

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12704645

• Comparative Analysis of Immune Profiles in Youth With and Without High Impact Chronic Pain White, J., Feyaerts, D., Cambriel, A., Sabayev, M., Gaudilliere, B., Simons, L. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. 2025

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpain.2025.105176

  View details for Web of Science ID 001504694300184

• The relationship between ACEs exposure and functioning in adolescents with chronic pain: A longitudinal study Gaydos, E., Simons, L., White, J. OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. 2025: 118-119

  View details for Web of Science ID 001434801700247

• Neuropsychological mechanisms of observational learning in human placebo effects. Psychopharmacology Raghuraman, N., White, J. N., Watson, L., Belleï-Rodriguez, C. É., Shafir, R., Wang, Y., Colloca, L. 2024

  Abstract

  Scientific evidence indicates that placebo effects are psychoneurobiological events involving the contribution of distinct central nervous systems and peripheral physiological mechanisms that influence pain perception and other symptoms. Placebo effects can occur without formal conditioning and direct prior experience because crucial information can be acquired through observational learning. Observation of benefits in another person results in placebo effects of a magnitude like those induced by directly experiencing an analgesic benefit. Understanding the psychological mechanisms of observationally induced placebo effects is a complex and multifaceted endeavor. While previous reviews have highlighted various frameworks and models to understand these phenomena, the underlying biological mechanisms have been overlooked. We summarize critically current understanding of its behavioral and neural mechanisms. Understanding the neural mechanisms of hypoalgesia driven by observation can serve as a foundation for future development of novel theoretical and methodological approaches and ultimately, applications.

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s00213-024-06608-7

  View details for PubMedID 38743108

  View details for PubMedCentralID 6782391

• Transcriptomic Profiles Associated with Experimental Placebo Effects in Chronic Pain CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS Colloca, L., Mocci, E., Wang, Y., Massalee, R., Chen, S., White, J., Johnson, K., Fidalgo, G., Wilson, G. M., Goldman, D., Dorsey, S. G. 2024; 116 (2): 380-389

  Abstract

  Gene expression networks associated with placebo effects are understudied; in this study, we identified transcriptomic profiles associated with placebo responsivity. Participants suffering from chronic pain underwent a verbal suggestion and conditioning paradigm with individually tailored thermal painful stimulations to elicit conditioned placebo effects. Participants reported pain intensity on a visual analog scale (VAS) anchored from zero = no pain to 100 = maximum imaginable pain. RNA was extracted from venous blood and RNA sequencing and validation tests were performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with placebo effects, controlling for sex and level of pain. Unbiased enrichment analyses were performed to identify biological processes associated with placebo effects. Of the 10,700 protein-coding genes that passed quality control filters, 667 were found to be associated with placebo effects (FDR <0.05). Most genes (97%) upregulated were associated with larger placebo effects. The 17 top transcriptome-wide significant genes were further validated via RT-qPCR in an independent cohort of chronic pain participants. Six of them (CCDC85B, FBXL15, HAGH, PI3, SELENOM, and TNFRSF4) showed positive and significant (P < 0.05) correlation with placebo effects in the cohort. The overall DEGs were highly enriched in regulation of expression of SLITs and ROBOs (R-HSA-9010553, FDR = 1.26e-33), metabolism of RNA (R-HSA-8953854, FDR = 1.34e-30), Huntington's disease (hsa05016, FDR = 9.84e-31), and ribosome biogenesis (GO:0042254, FDR = 2.67e-15); alternations in these pathways might jeopardize the proneness to elicit placebo effects. Future studies are needed to replicate this finding and better understand the unique molecular dynamics of people who are more or less affected by pain and placebo.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/cpt.3286

  View details for Web of Science ID 001214575000001

  View details for PubMedID 38711244

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11251865