INTRODUCTION Nocebo effects are defined as adverse events related to negative expectations and learning processes that are involved in the modulation of the descending pain pathways. Research over the last couple of decades has illustrated that behavioral, psychoneurobiological and functional changes occur during nocebo-induced pain processing. OBJECTIVES We aimed to review published human an...

OBJECTIVES The present review investigated whether there are systematic sex differences in the placebo and the nocebo effect. METHODS A literature search was conducted in multiple electronic databases. Studies were included if the study compared a group or condition where a placebo was administered to a natural history group or similar cohort. RESULTS Eighteen studies were identified - 12 o...

Recent substantial laboratory and theoretical research hints for different learning mechanisms regulating the formation of placebo and nocebo responses. Moreover, psychological and biological variants may play a role as modulators of learning mechanisms underlying placebo and nocebo responses. In this chapter, we present pioneering and recent human and nonhuman research that has impressively in...

Introduction: Placebo and nocebo phenomena in pharmacology are very important, but controversial issues from the perspective of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in many ways. Topic: Glorifi cation and vilifi cation of placebo controlled studies are the two opposite sides of the prevailing misunderstanding placebo and nocebo phenomena in medicine and pharmacology. This misunderstanding is an essent...

There is growing evidence that placebos are able to influence visual perception. A previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on the processing of disgust images demonstrated that a 'disgust placebo' (inert pill administered with the verbal suggestion of an anti-nausea medication) reduced visual cortex activity and connectivity. In the present fMRI investigation, we examined co...

The nocebo effect consists in delivering verbal suggestions of negative outcomes so that the subject expects clinical worsening. Here we show that nocebo suggestions, in which expectation of pain increase is induced, are capable of producing both hyperalgesic and allodynic responses. By extending previous findings on the placebo effect, we investigated the role of learning in the nocebo effect ...

BACKGROUND A "nocebo" effect is defined as troublesome symptoms after the administration of placebo. The aim of this study was to determine characteristics of nocebo responses and related factors. METHODS Patients with a reliable history of drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions subjected to placebo-controlled oral drug provocation tests and reacted to placebo, were consecutively included in...

The placebo effect has often been considered a nuisance in basic and particularly clinical research. This view has gradually changed in recent years due to deeper insight into the neuro-bio-behavioral mechanisms steering both the placebo and nocebo responses, the evil twin of placebo. For the neuroscientist, placebo and nocebo responses have evolved as indispensable tools to understand brain me...

Placebo and nocebo effects are known to play a key role in treatment effects in a wide variety of conditions. These effects have frequently been investigated with regard to pain and also in other physical sensations, but have hardly been investigated with regard to itch. In addition, neither in pain nor in any other physical sensation, the single and combined contribution of the expectancy mech...

OBJECTIVES Medication side effects are common, often leading to reduced quality of life, nonadherence, and financial costs for health services. Many side effects are the result of a psychologically mediated "nocebo effect." This review identifies the risk factors involved in the development of nocebo effects. METHOD Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Journals@Ovid full text, and Globa...