The placebo effect in breath holding: a preliminary behavioral investigation

Preserving the placebo effect after disclosure: A new perspective on non-deceptive placebos

The present study explores whether a particular style of placebo disclosure could serve as a tool to foster a renewed trust in one's own inherent resources and elicit a meaningful placebo effect. In a motor performance task, two placebo groups received inert transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in each of four sessions along with information on its force-enhancing properties. Before the final session, one of the placebo groups was informed about the placebo, which was portrayed as a means to unleash an inherent potential. Along with force, we systematically monitored task-specific self-efficacy to test whether this variable would be differentially modulated in the two placebo groups. Compared to two control groups, placebo groups showed higher force and self-efficacy in the last session. No differences in self-efficacy were observed in the placebo groups even after revealing the placebo procedure, suggesting that the disclosure was effective in 'safeguarding' individuals' self-efficacy. These findings may have important implications, paving the way for the use of placebos that not only are ethically permissible but also support individuals' self-efficacy.

What is the role of placebo in neurotherapeutics?

INTRODUCTION

The widespread use of the word 'placebo' in the medical literature emphasizes the importance of this phenomenon in modern biomedical sciences. Neuroscientific research over the past thirty years shows that placebo effects are genuine psychobiological events attributable to the overall therapeutic context, and can be robust in both laboratory and clinical settings.

AREAS COVERED

Here the authors describe the biological mechanisms and the clinical implications of placebo effects with particular emphasis on neurology and psychiatry, for example in pain, movement disorders, depression. In these conditions, a number of endogenous systems have been identified, such as endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids, and dopamine, which contribute to the placebo-induced benefit.

EXPERT OPINION

Every effort should be made to maximize the placebo effect and reduce its evil twin, the nocebo effect, in medical practice. This does not require the administration of a placebo, but rather the enhancement of the effects of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments through a good doctor-patient interaction.