Conditioned placebo analgesia persists when subjects know they are receiving a placebo.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Belief in the effectiveness of a placebo treatment is widely thought to be critical for placebo analgesia. Many types of placebo responses--even those that depend on conditioning--appear to be mediated by expectations that are strengthened as treatment cues are reinforced with positive outcomes. However, placebo effects may occur even when participants are aware they are receiving a placebo. To address the question of whether conditioned placebo analgesia can persist in the absence of expectations, we studied the effects of long (4 days) versus short (1 day) conditioning to a placebo treatment. After an initial placebo test, a "reveal" manipulation convincingly demonstrated to participants that they had never received an active drug. Placebo analgesia persisted after the

SUBMITTER: Schafer SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4424173 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature