Trial reportPain2010
How the number of learning trials affects placebo and nocebo responses.
Trial report in Pain, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03294148 (Mind-body Treatments for Chronic Back Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 123 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Mind-body Treatments for Chronic Back Pain
Who cites it
123 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Meta-analytic evidence for distinct neural correlates of conditioned versus verbally induced placebo analgesia.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Nocebo effects in long-term health conditions: a systematic review of experimental studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Learning by observing: a systematic exploration of modulatory factors and the impact of observationally induced placebo and nocebo effects on treatment outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Nocebo Effect: A Review of Contemporary Experimental Research.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The Influence of Placebo Effect on Craving and Cognitive Performance in Alcohol, Caffeine, or Nicotine Consumers: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Can Nocebo Effects Be Reduced via Open- and Closed-Label Counterconditioning?European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Trial
- The role of endogenous opioids in mindfulness and sham mindfulness-meditation for the direct alleviation of evoked chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Impact of Verbal Suggestions on Finger Flexor Activation and Strength in Healthy Individuals.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Trial
- Effectiveness of Conditioned Open-label Placebo With Methadone in Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Harnessing the placebo effect to enhance emotion regulation effectiveness and choice.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Beyond Sharing Unpleasant Affect-Evidence for Pain-Specific Opioidergic Modulation of Empathy for Pain.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2021Trial
- Learning mechanisms in nocebo hyperalgesia: the role of conditioning and extinction processes.Pain · 2020Trial
- Trial
- The effect of dopamine on conditioned placebo analgesia in healthy individuals: a double-blind randomized trial.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Learning to experience side effects after antidepressant intake - Results from a randomized, controlled, double-blind study.Psychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Minimizing nocebo effects by conditioning with verbal suggestion: A randomized clinical trial in healthy humans.PloS one · 2017Trial
63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Conditioning procedures are used in many placebo studies because evidence suggests that conditioning-related placebo responses are usually more robust than those induced by verbal suggestions alone. However, it has not been shown whether there is a causal relation between the number of conditioning trials and the resistance to extinction of placebo and nocebo responses. Here we test the effects of either one or four sessions of conditioning on the modulation of both non-painful and painful stimuli delivered to the dorsum of the foot. Placebo and nocebo manipulations were obtained by pairing green or red light to a series of stimuli that were made lower or higher with respect to a yellow light associated with a series of control stimuli. Subjects were told that the lights would indicate a treatment that would reduce or increase non-painful and painful stimuli to the foot. They were randomly assigned to either Group 1 or 2. Group 1 underwent one session of conditioning and Group 2 received four sessions of conditioning. We found that one session of conditioning (Group 1) induced nocebo responses, but not placebo responses in no pain condition. After one session of conditioning, we observed both nocebo and placebo responses to painful stimulation. However, these effects extinguished over time. Conversely, four sessions of conditioning (Group 2) induced robust placebo and nocebo responses to both non-painful and painful stimuli that persisted over the entire experiment. These findings suggest that the strength of learning may be clinically important for producing long-lasting placebo effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.