Aleksandrina Skvortsova conducts experimental, interdisciplinary research on placebo and nocebo effects, focusing on the psychological, physiological, and neural mechanisms underlying treatment responses. Her research examines pharmacological conditioning and how communication and health information shape expectations, symptom experience, and treatment outcomes across different health contexts.

More information about Aleksandrina Skvortsova

Aleksandrina Skvortsova conducts experimental, interdisciplinary research on placebo and nocebo effects, focusing on the psychological, physiological, and neural mechanisms underlying treatment responses. Her research examines pharmacological conditioning and how communication and health information shape expectations, symptom experience, and treatment outcomes across different health contexts.

A particular focus of her work is pharmacological conditioning and the role of conditioning in shaping treatment effects. By studying how previously learned associations can influence responses to treatment, her research aims to better understand the mechanisms through which psychological processes can affect physiological and clinical outcomes. Her work also investigates placebo and nocebo effects in metabolic processes.

Another line of research examines how communication and health information shape patients’ expectations, symptom experience, and treatment outcomes. This includes communication between healthcare professionals and patients, as well as health information encountered through social media and other sources. By investigating how the information and communication surrounding treatment influence patients’ experiences, her research seeks to identify factors that can contribute to beneficial treatment responses and reduce unwanted symptom experiences.

Her research spans basic mechanisms and clinically relevant applications, with the broader aim of improving understanding of psychological influences on treatment and informing communication and interventions that can improve patient outcomes.

Teaching

• Basic Therapeutic Skills
• Health and Medical Psychology
• Clinical Neuropsychology
• Innovations in Clinical Neurospychology
• Supervision of Bachelor projects
• Supervision of internal and external master theses and research internships

Short CV

Skvortsova completed her PhD thesis 'Conditioning of the neuroendocrine system: the role of oxytocin' at Leiden University. Her research focused on classical conditioning of endocrine responses and the link between endocrine system and placebo and nocebo effects in pain. After that, she spent two years working as a Rubicon fellow at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She joined the Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology section of Leiden University as an Assistant Professor in February 2024.

Grants and Awards

• 2023 -  Leiden University Fund grant
• 2022 - Travel grant of Quebec Pain Research Network for attending Neuroscience 2022 conference in San Diego, USA.
• 2022 - Travel grant of International Association for the Study of Pain for attending the 2022 World Congress on Pain in Toronto, Canada.
• 2020 - Rubicon Grant of Dutch Research Council (NWO). Individual fellowship for performing 2 years research at Psychology Department of McGill University, Canada. 
• 2017 - APS Young Scholar Scholarship Award, American Psychosomatic Society.

PhD Students

Pien van der Velde
Victor Leong