Neurobiology of the Placebo Effect, Part I

Dr. Luana Colloca is an associate professor at the School of Nursing and School of Medicine, University of Maryland and has extensive experience in the area of pain modulation and placebo effects. Luana received her MD degree from the University of Catanzaro, Medical School and holds both a master degree in Bioethics and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Turin in Italy. She completed a post-doc fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and a senior research fellowship at the National Institute of Health. Luana's main line of research focuses on how expectations and learning mechanisms shape experience-driven placebo and nocebo effects. The goal of this research is to provide a comprehensive approach to understanding pain modulation and complex functions as such placebo and nocebo effects, incorporating behavioral, pharmacological, functional and psychophysical information directly in humans. The developed approaches are pivotal in translating knowledge about pain modulation from human laboratory settings to patient populations. Luana has authored numerous original articles - well-cited in the biomedical literature and published in journals such as Nature Neuro, JAMA, J Neuro, BMJ, and Pain. Prof. Colloca also co-edited three books for Elsevier, JHP, and Lambert Press respectively on the neurophysiological and translational aspects of the placebo and nocebo effects. Photography Credit: Michael Ciesielski

1. Placebo Analgesia in Rodents: Current and Future Research Asaf Keller, Titilola Akintola and Luana Colloca 2. Expectancy Modulation of Opioid Neurotransmission Marta Pecina and Jon-Kar Zubieta 3. Placebo Effects in the Immune System Martin Hadamitzky, Wiebke Sondermann, Sven Benson and Manfred Schedlowski 4. Human Pharmacological Conditioning of the Immune and Endocrine System: Challenges and Opportunities J. Tekampe, H. van Middendorp, F.C.G.J. Sweep, S.H.P.P. Roerink, A.R.M.M. Hermus and A.W.M. Evers 5. Response Expectancy and the Placebo Effect Irving Kirsch 6. A Functional-Cognitive Perspective on the Relation Between Conditioning and Placebo Research Jan De Houwer 7. The Application of Persuasion Theory to Placebo Effects Andrew L. Geers, Pablo Briñol, Erin A. Vogel, Olivia Aspiras, Fawn C. Caplandies and Richard E. Petty 8. Mindsets Matter: A New Framework for Harnessing the Placebo Effect in Modern Medicine  Sean R. Zion and Alia Crum 9. The Role of Social and Interpersonal Factors in Placebo Analgesia Elizabeth A. Necka and Lauren Y. Atlas 10. What Is Minimally Required to Elicit Placebo Effects? Karin B. Jensen 11. Critical Life Functions: Can Placebo Replace Oxygen? Fabrizio Benedetti, Diletta Barbiani and Eleonora Camerone 12. Placebos Without Deception: Outcomes, Mechanisms, and Ethics Luana Colloca and Jeremy Howick 13. Placebo and Psychotherapy: Differences, Similarities, and Implications Jens Gaab, Cosima Locher and Charlotte Blease 14. Expectation Focused Psychotherapy to Improve Clinical Outcomes Bettina K. Doering, Julia A. Glombiewski and Winfried Rief 15. Nocebo Effects: Neurobiological Mechanisms and Strategies for Prevention and Optimizing Treatment Julian Kleine-Borgmann and Ulrike Bingel 16. Nocebo Effects and Experimental Models in Visceral Pain Sigrid Elsenbruch and Franziska Labrenz 17. Using Learning Strategies to Inhibit the Nocebo Effect Veronica F. Quinn and Ben Colagiuri 18. Can Knowledge of Placebo and Nocebo Mechanisms Help Improve Randomized Clinical Trials ? Elisa Carlino and Lene Vase