Today we present 27 new placebo and nocebo research papers, book chapters, comments and abstracts identified during April 2025. As usual, they are based on new PUBMED publication using the search terms „placebo“ and „nocebo“ and are hand-selected from more than 901 new publications during the preceding month. Previously published monthly updates can be found in our archive. Todays selection as well as all previously identified papers will also go into our placebo research library that currently contains around 5,400 relevant papers. If you would like to get access to the full database, please register for our newsletter and provide us with your email address and affiliation.
Aday, J. S., Simonsson, O., Schindler, E. A. D., & D’Souza, D. C. (2025).
Addressing blinding in classic psychedelic studies with innovative active placebos. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol, 28(4). doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyaf023
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40183712
Allmendinger, F., Rosner, J., Egger, T., Scheuren, P. S., & Hubli, M. (2025).
Nocebo Effect on Pain-Related Autonomic Responses in a State of Experimentally-Induced Sensitization. Eur J Pain, 29(5), e70029. doi:10.1002/ejp.70029
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40251793
Ariccio, S., Traini, E., Portengen, L., Martens, A., Slottje, P., Vermeulen, R., & Huss, A. (2025).
Chicken or egg? Attribution hypothesis and nocebo hypothesis to explain somatization associated to perceived RF-EMF exposure. Front Public Health, 13, 1561373. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1561373
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40270737
Boorman, D. C., Crawford, L. S., Henderson, L. A., & Keay, K. A. (2025).
Direct comparisons of neural activity during placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia between humans and rats. Commun Biol, 8(1), 570. doi:10.1038/s42003-025-07993-1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40188175
Bres, V., Ben Fadhel, N., Trouillet, R., Broc, G., Chiriac, A., & Faillie, J. L. (2025).
Allergy-like nocebo events reported with COVID-19 vaccines: a case control study. Expert Opin Drug Saf, 1-9. doi:10.1080/14740338.2025.2497397
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40265270
Bschor, T., Unger, J., Nagel, L., Schwarzer, G., & Baethge, C. (2025).
Negative Effects During Placebo Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0336
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40238101
Camerone, E. M., Rossettini, G., Bialosky, J. E., & Carlino, E. (2025).
Editorial: The role of expectations on treatment outcomes: from the experimental context to the clinical practice. Front Psychol, 16, 1585791. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1585791
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40212314
Casula, E. P., Chieco, F., Papaioannou, M. M., Frizzarin, F., Rocchi, L., & Camporese, A. (2024).
Trend-analysis reveals real and placebo rtms effects on addiction craving: a case-control observational study. Front Psychiatry, 15, 1441815. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1441815
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40190483
Crawford, L. S., Yang, S., Meylakh, N., Sattarov, L., Ramachandran, A., Macefield, V. G., Keays, K. A. & Henderson, L. A. (2025).
Forebrain networks driving brainstem pain modulatory circuits during nocebo hyperalgesia in healthy humans. Pain. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003604
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40232878
Fournier, J., Druart, L., Allier, M., & Roustit, M. (2025).
Perceptions of contribution of the placebo effects to drug efficacy in community pharmacy practice: A cross-sectional survey. Therapie. doi:10.1016/j.therap.2025.02.015
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40175173
Garcia-Pachon, E., Soler-Sempere, M. J., Ruiz-Alcaraz, S., Ibarra-Macia, A., & Belendez-Vazquez, M. (2025).
Nocebo effect in inhaler use: Patients’ beliefs and treatment adherence. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm, 18, 100602. doi:10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100602
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40275944
Guidetti, C., Fava, M., Manfredi, P. L., Pappagallo, M., & Gomeni, R. (2025).
A novel artificial intelligence-based methodology to predict non-specific response to treatment. Psychiatry Res, 348, 116506. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116506
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40262198
Hirsing, N., Nestoriuc, Y., Buchweitz, O., & Meyrose, A. K. (2025).
Pre-operative expectations in patients with endometriosis – a qualitative interview study. BMC women’s health, 25(1), 209. doi:10.1186/s12905-025-03686-3
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40295982/
Howick, J., Lantos, J. D., Treweek, S., Svobodova, M., Jacob, N., Edwards, A., Bostock, J., Bower, P., Gillies, K. & Hood, K. (2025).
Variation in the extent to which patient information leaflets describe potential benefits and harms of trial interventions: a commentary. Trials, 26(1), 132. doi:10.1186/s13063-025-08824-8
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40229793
Huneke, N. T. M., Cortese, S., & Solmi, M. (2025).
Understanding Placebo Mechanisms to Reduce Attrition in Psychiatric Trials. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0303
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40238132
Kim, T. H., Lee, M. S., Birch, S., & Alraek, T. (2025).
Sham Acupuncture Needs to be Revisited, Moving Beyond the Perspectives of the Placebo and Nocebo Effects: A Letter to the Editor. Integrative cancer therapies, 24, 15347354251336161. doi:10.1177/15347354251336161
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40298288/
Lii, T. R., Flohr, J. R., Okada, R. L., Cianfichi, L. J., Hack, L. M., Schatzberg, A. F., & Heifets, B. D. (2025).
Opioids diminish the placebo antidepressant response: Observational post hoc findings from a randomized controlled ketamine trial. J Affect Disord, 381, 200-204. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.008
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40185412
Lippard, E. T. C., Kirsch, D. E., Le, V., Lee, S., Bibb, N., Meek, K., Kosted, R., Huffman, A., Almeida, J. R. C., Fromme, K., & Strakowski, S. M. (2025).
Nucleus accumbens functional connectivity changes underlying alcohol expectancies in bipolar disorder and prospective alcohol outcomes: a within-subject randomized placebo-controlled alcohol administration fMRI study. Frontiers in neuroscience, 19, 1549295. doi:10.3389/fnins.2025.1549295
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40270761/
Lunde, S. J., Vase, L., Hall, K. T., Meissner, K., Hohenschurz-Schmidt, D., Kaptchuk, T. J., Maier, C., & Vollert, J. (2025).
Predicting placebo analgesia responses in clinical trials: where to look next? A meta-analysis of individual patient data. Pain, doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003615.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40310873/
Morawik, I., Turzanska, K., & Jablonski, M. (2025).
Acupuncture: ancient remedy or modern placebo? Wiad Lek, 78(3), 595-601. doi:10.36740/WLek/202550
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40219888
Rice, J. M., Gordon, B. R., Lindheimer, J. B., Lyons, M., & Herring, M. P. (2025).
Associations between expected and observed psychological responses to acute resistance exercise in analogue generalized anxiety disorder. Sci Rep, 15(1), 11378. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96156-7
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40181064
Richard, M., Bernstein, M., Gaab, J., & Elger, B. (2025).
A systematic qualitative review of ethical issues in open label placebo in published research. Sci Rep, 15(1), 12268. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96425-5
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40210672
Rischer, K. M., Dierolf, A. M., Anton, F., Montoya, P., Gonzalez-Roldan, A. M., & van der Meulen, M. (2025).
The Placebo Hypoalgesic Response Is Reduced in Healthy Older Adults Showing a Decline in Executive Functioning. J Pain Res, 18, 1747-1763. doi:10.2147/JPR.S488198
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40191618
Robertson, J., Ross, A. D. F., & Nurko, S. (2025).
Ethical Considerations for the Use of Deception in Pediatric Research: Reflections on the Use of Deceptive Placebo in Children With Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions. Gastroenterology. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2025.03.028
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40188886
Sgambati, T. J., Colloca, L., Geers, A. L., & Guevarra, D. A. (2025).
Negative lay perceptions of open-label placebo users may pose barriers to intervention adoption. Ann Behav Med, 59(1). doi:10.1093/abm/kaaf011
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40272098
Snook, A. G., Waage, I. S., Arnadottir, S. A., Bjornsdottir, S. V., Rossettini, G., & Testa, M. (2025).
Icelandic physiotherapists’ perceptions of contextual factors as triggers of nocebo effects: a mixed methods survey. Physiother Theory Pract, 1-13. doi:10.1080/09593985.2025.2490047
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40237261
Teng, T., Zhang, J., Miao, P., Liang, L., Song, X., Liu, D., & Zhang, J. (2025).
Revolutionizing Chinese medicine granule placebo with a machine learning four-color model. Chin Med, 20(1), 43. doi:10.1186/s13020-024-01055-0
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40170087
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