ArticleThe European respiratory journal2026
Placebo effect on brainstem activity associated with capsaicin-evoked urge to cough in healthy humans.
Article in The European respiratory journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Physiological mechanisms and therapeutic targets in chronic cough.Physiological reports · 2026Review
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5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPlacebo effects are common in studies of cough and antitussive medications, suggestive of a profound influence of brain activity over cough neural processing. We previously reported placebo intervention-associated reductions in the urge-to-cough and the associated higher order brain network activity evoked by capsaicin inhalation, an effect involving increased activation of the prefrontal cortex.
objectiveIn this study, we set out to advance the understanding of placebo antitussive brain circuitry by testing the hypothesis that the activity of brainstem nuclei during capsaicin inhalation will similarly be altered by placebo intervention.
methodsUsing an expectation-dependent placebo induction design during blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging optimised for quantifying brainstem activity, we compared regional brainstem responses evoked by capsaicin inhalation in 16 healthy individuals during no-intervention
resultsCapsaicin-induced urge-to-cough subjective ratings were significantly lower during the placebo-intervention trials than no-intervention trials. Placebo intervention resulted in a significant reduction in capsaicin-induced BOLD signal activation across many brainstem nuclei, including the medullary brainstem sites where airway vagal sensory neurons are known to terminate.
conclusionThese data confirm the inhibitory effects of placebo intervention on capsaicin-evoked urge-to-cough and suggest the existence of a "top-down" brain circuit controlling cough sensory neural processing at the level of the brainstem during placebo conditions.
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