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The perception of pain is subject to powerful influences. Understanding how these are mediated at a neuroanatomical and neurobiological level provides us with valuable information that has a direct impact on our ability to harness positive and minimize negative effects therapeutically, as well as optimize clinical trial designs when developing new analgesics. This is particularly relevant for placebo and nocebo effects. New research findings have directly contributed to an increased understanding of how placebo and nocebo effects are produced and what biological and psychological factors influence variances in the magnitude of the effect. The findings have relevance for chronic pain states and other disorders, where abnormal functioning of crucial brain regions might affect analgesic outcome even in the normal therapeutic setting.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/nm.2229

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nat Med

Publication Date

11/2010

Volume

16

Pages

1277 - 1283

Keywords

Chronic Disease, Clinical Trials as Topic, Diagnostic Imaging, Dopamine, Humans, Nociceptors, Pain, Placebos