SynthesisThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2022
Functional Neuroimaging Correlates of Placebo Response in Patients With Depressive or Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placebo and nocebo effects of pharmacotherapy for obsessive-compulsive related disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2026Pooled it
- Placebo effects in randomized trials of pharmacological and neurostimulation interventions for mental disorders: An umbrella review.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Placebo and nocebo effects and mechanisms associated with pharmacological interventions: an umbrella review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Predictive biomarkers of placebo response in patients with cancer: an exploratory analysis of the ABCD randomized clinical trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Infraslow Closed-Loop Brain Training for Anxiety and Depression (ISAD): A pilot randomised, sham-controlled trial in adult females with internalizing disorders.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Trial
- A common symptom geometry of mood improvement under sertraline and placebo associated with distinct neural patterns.Psychological medicine · 2025Trial
- Functional connectivity subtypes during a positive mood induction: Predicting clinical response in a randomized controlled trial of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression.Journal of psychopathology and clinical science · 2025Trial
- The impact of cannabidiol placebo on amygdala-based neural responses to an acute stressor.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- Antidepressant effects of prolonged intermittent theta-burst stimulation monotherapy at the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex for medication and standard transcranial magnetic stimulation-resistant major depression: a three arm, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled pilot study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Trial
- Parkinson's disease: Individual placebo responses are predicted by baseline expression of a striato-limbic network.Research square · 2026Article
- The Impact of Rosenthal Effect-Based Psychological Nursing on Psychological State, Self-Efficacy, and Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Total Hysterectomy for Uterine Fibroids: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on the Symptoms and Brain Imaging in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
- Placebo and nocebo effect in pain.Handbook of clinical neurology · 2025Review
- Functional Connectivity Mapping for rTMS Target Selection in Depression.The American journal of psychiatry · 2023Article
- Placebo effects in functional dyspepsia: Causes and implications for clinical trials.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2023Review
- Placebo stimulates neuroplasticity in depression: implications for clinical practice and research.Frontiers in psychiatry · 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
8 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe mechanisms underlying placebo effects of psychotropic drugs remain poorly understood. We carried out the first, to our knowledge, systematic review of functional neuroimaging correlates of placebo response in adults with anxiety/depressive disorders.
methodsWe systematically searched a large set of databases up to February 2021 based on a pre-registered protocol (PROSPERO CRD42019156911). We extracted neuroimaging data related to clinical improvement following placebo or related to placebo mechanisms. We did not perform a meta-analysis due to the small number of included studies and significant heterogeneity in study design and outcome measures.
resultsWe found 12 relevant studies for depressive disorders and 4 for anxiety disorders. Activity in the ventral striatum, rostral anterior cingulate cortex and other default mode network regions, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex correlated with placebo antidepressant responses. Activity in regions of the default mode network, including posterior cingulate cortex, was associated with placebo anxiolysis. There was also evidence for possible involvement of the endogenous opioid, dopamine, and serotonin systems in placebo antidepressant and anxiolytic effects.
conclusionsSeveral brain regions and molecular systems may be involved in these placebo effects. Further adequately powered studies exploring causality and controlling for confounders are required.
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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.