title: The effects of placebos and nocebos on physical performance.
abstract: In this chapter we present and discuss recent studies on the mechanisms underlying placebo and nocebo effects in physical performance, showing how expectations and both pharmacological and nonpharmacological preconditioning procedures can be very effective in inducing placebo responses, with important implications for sport competitions. Furthermore, we place these findings within the biological model of central governor of fatigue, whose main goal is to protect our body from damage. A crucial aspect of this emerging field of placebo studies is related to the limit beyond which these procedures can be called doping in all respects.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department and National Institute of Neuroscience Labs, University of Turin Medical School, Corso Raffaello 30, 10125, Torino, Italy, elisa.carlino@unito.it.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carlino
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piedimonte
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frisaldi
mesh_terms: D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D009043:Motor Activity; D064786:Nocebo Effect; D015990:Placebo Effect