ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2011
Harnessing the placebo effect: the need for translational research.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 127 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic qualitative review of ethical issues in open label placebo in published research.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Trait responsiveness to verbal suggestions predicts nocebo responding: A meta-analysis.British journal of health psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Placebo administration for dry eye disease: a level I evidence based systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of contextual factors on patient outcomes following conservative low back pain treatment: systematic review.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2022Pooled it
- How often do general practitioners use placebos and non-specific interventions? Systematic review and meta-analysis of surveys.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Acupuncture for Japanese Katakori (Chronic Neck Pain): A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Minimizing nocebo effects by conditioning with verbal suggestion: A randomized clinical trial in healthy humans.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Placebo effect of medication cost in Parkinson disease: a randomized double-blind study.Neurology · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Placebo improvement in pharmacologic treatment of menopausal hot flashes: time course, duration, and predictors.Psychosomatic medicineTrial
- Development and Validation of the Brief Inventory of Treatment Expectations in Chronic Pain (BITEC).European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Challenges and opportunities of complexity theory in health care systems.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2025Article
- Neuropsychological mechanisms of observational learning in human placebo effects.Psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- An update on non-pharmacological interventions for pain relief.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Review
- What should constitute a control condition in psychedelic drug trials?Nature. Mental health · 2024Article
- Placebo effects in osteoarthritis: implications for treatment and drug development.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- Harnessing placebo: Lessons from psychedelic science.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Review
- Musculoskeletal practitioners' perceptions of contextual factors that may influence chronic low back pain outcomes: a modified Delphi study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Laboratory research recently has greatly enhanced the understanding of placebo and nocebo effects by identifying specific neuromodulators and brain areas associated with them. However, little progress has been made in translating this knowledge into improved patient care. Here, we discuss the limitations in our knowledge about placebo (and nocebo) effects and the need for translational research with the aim of guiding physicians in maximizing placebo effects and minimizing nocebo effects in their routine clinical practice. We suggest some strategies for how, when and why interventions to promote beneficial placebo responses might be administered in the clinical setting.
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.