Mechanisms of placebo and placebo-related effects across diseases and treatments.
The placebo effect has evolved from being thought of as a nuisance in clinical and pharmacological research to a biological phenomenon worthy of scientific investigation in its own right. It is now clear that the term placebo effect is too restrictive and, in fact, many placebo-related effects have recently been investigated. A placebo effect differs from a placebo-like effect in that the former follows the administration of a placebo, whereas in the latter no placebo is administered. However, in both cases, the psychosocial context around the treatment plays a key role. In recent years, placebo and placebo-related effects have been analyzed with sophisticated biological tools that have uncovered specific mechanisms at both the biochemical and cellular level. This recent research has revealed that these psychosocial-induced biochemical changes in a patient's brain and body in turn may affect the course of a disease and the response to a therapy.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin Medical School, and National Institute of Neuroscience, Turin, Italy. fabrizio.benedetti@unito.it
Fabrizio
F
Benedetti
D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015990:Placebo Effect; D010919:Placebos; D012107:Research Design
D010919:Placebos