Placebo and Pain

Luana Colloca, Magne Arve Flaten, Karin Meissner

The placebo effect continues to fascinate scientists, scholars, and clinicians, resulting in an impressive amount of research, mainly in the field of pain. While recent experimental and clinical studies have unraveled salient aspects of the neurobiological substrates and clinical relevance of pain and placebo analgesia, an authoritative source remained lacking until now. By presenting and integrating a broad range of research, Placebo and Pain enhances readers' knowledge about placebo and nocebo effects, reexamines the methodology of clinical trials, and improves the therapeutic approaches for patients suffering from pain.