title: A transferable anxiolytic placebo effect from noise to negative effect.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The placebo effect in relieving negative emotion arousal is poorly understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined whether placebo expectation established with noise stimuli could have a transferable anxiolytic effect on negative emotion arousal.
  
  
  METHODS
  In Experiment 1, noise intensity was surreptitiously lowered during placebo condition in the preconditioning phase to reinforce placebo expectation, and the noise-relieving placebo effect was assessed in the testing phase. In Experiment 2, the same manipulation as in Experiment 1 was administered in the preconditioning phase, but the anxiolytic placebo effect was assessed in the testing phase using negative pictures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intensity and annoyance by the noise in Experiment 1 were significantly reduced, and unpleasantness in Experiment 2 was also significantly reduced in the placebo condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Direct noise-relieving placebo effects and transferred anxiolytic placebo effects were found. The present study provides evidence that the placebo effect can be transferred from noise to emotion.
authors.affiliation: a Key Laboratory of Mental Health , Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Chaoyang District , Beijing , P.R. China .|b College of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) , Huairou District , Beijing , P.R. China .
authors.forename: Yili
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: a Key Laboratory of Mental Health , Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Chaoyang District , Beijing , P.R. China .
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: c Education College, Hebei Normal University , Hebei , P.R. China , and.
authors.forename: Lizhuang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: d Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Department of Psychology , Capital Normal University , Beijing , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: a Key Laboratory of Mental Health , Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Chaoyang District , Beijing , P.R. China .
authors.forename: Jianyou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: a Key Laboratory of Mental Health , Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Chaoyang District , Beijing , P.R. China .
authors.forename: Wencai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015990:Placebo Effect; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Conditioning; expectation; negative emotion; noise; transferable placebo effect