When words are painful: Unraveling the mechanisms of the nocebo effect

Benedetti, Fabrizio; Lanotte, Michele; Lopiano, Leonardo; Colloca, Luana

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2007.02.020

Cited by 497 publications

(362 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Cholecystokinin is also implicated in anxiety 46 and it underlies anxiety mediated hyperalgesia. 47,48 Administration of proglumide, a mixed CCK-A and B receptor antagonist reduces anxiety-induced facilitation of pain (i.e., nocebo hyperalgesia). 47,49 These data suggest two alternative possibilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locked out and still knocking: predictors of excessive demands for postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia

Katz

Buis

Cohen

2008

Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth

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CAN J ANESTH 55: 2 www.cja-jca.org Februar y, 2008 Background: Psychosocial factors governing the use of postoperative, intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) have received little attention in spite of the fact that PCA is the most common modality for managing pain after surgery. The motivation behind requests for analgesia during lockout periods is not known. Unrelieved pain and need for pain medication are obvious reasons but other factors may be involved. The aim of the present study was to predict PCA lockout interval demands based on preoperative psychosocial factors.Methods: Approximately one week before major abdominal gynecologic surgery, 117 women completed the impact of events scale (IES) measuring intrusive thoughts and avoidant behaviours. Pain was measured by visual analogue scale at three, six, 12, 24 and 48 hr after surgery. Measures of anxiety and negative affect were obtained 24 and 48 hr after surgery. Cumulative morphine consumption and every PCA demand (drug delivered and not delivered) were downloaded from the PCA pump.Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that preoperative intrusive thoughts and avoidant behaviours about the upcoming surgery positively predicted PCA lockout interval demands after controlling for postoperative pain, morphine consumption, anxiety, and negative affect (R 2 = 0.45; P < 0.0001). Path analysis showed a direct pathway from preoperative IES scores to lockout interval demands (β = 0.23, P = 0.002) which was not associated with untreated pain, anxiety, or negative affect. Conclusions:Excessive demands for postoperative intravenous-PCA morphine during lockout intervals appear to reflect, in part, poor preoperative adaptation to surgery involving intrusive thoughts and avoidant behaviours about the upcoming surgery.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locked out and still knocking: predictors of excessive demands for postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia

Katz

Buis

Cohen

2008

Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth

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“…The approach formulated by Revonsuo relates to Biological Realism (a variety of scientific realism) that directly studies the interface between neural and mental phenomena. This approach has several assumptions: (a) consciousness exists in its own right; it is separate from other cognitive functions and can be independent from external reality (dream experience, [313][314][315]) and thus should be studied as an independent variable (for the argumentation, see [316]) in its own terms, (b) it is a natural phenomenon, (c) it has some causal powers distinct from purely neurophysiological (non-phenomenal) realm; recent neuroimaging [317] and cognitive studies have demonstrated that mental processes or events do exert "downward" causal influence on brain plasticity and the various levels of brain functioning (see also [318][319][320]) and that the conceptual representation of an ambiguous perceptual stimulus biases sensory processing [321][322][323], and (d) it ontologically depends on brain -the spatial location of the mental phenomenon in the natural world. 43 It should be made clear, that these events are totally outside the consciousness domain: They are either nonconscious entities in the external world (not in the organism), or they are nonconscious biological (neurophysiological) events inside the organism (and/or brain) [72,328].…”

Section: Phenomenal Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

Fingelkurts

Neves

2010

Physics of Life Reviews

165

233

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Concepts of space and time are widely developed in physics. However, there is a considerable lack of biologically plausible theoretical frameworks that can demonstrate how space and time dimensions are implemented in the activity of the most complex life-system -the brain with a mind. Brain activity is organized both temporally and spatially, thus representing space-time in the brain. Critical analysis of recent research on the space-time organization of the brain's activity pointed to the existence of so-called operational space-time in the brain. This space-time is limited to the execution of brain operations of differing complexity. During each such brain operation a particular short-term spatio-temporal pattern of integrated activity of different brain areas emerges within related operational space-time. At the same time, to have a fully functional human brain one needs to have a subjective mental experience. Current research on the subjective mental experience offers detailed analysis of space-time organization of the mind. According to this research, subjective mental experience (subjective virtual world) has definitive spatial and temporal properties similar to many physical phenomena. Based on systematic review of the propositions and tenets of brain and mind space-time descriptions, our aim in this review essay is to explore the relations between the two. To be precise, we would like to discuss the hypothesis that via the brain operational space-time the mind subjective space-time is connected to otherwise distant physical space-time reality.Key words: spatial, temporal, consciousness, cognition, operation, architectonics, EEG, field, metastability, physics, coordinative dynamics, self-organization, cortex.

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“…indicate that the mental functions and processes involved in diverse forms of psychotherapy exert a significant influence on brain activity; (c) The results of neuroimaging investigations into the placebo (Beauregard 2007) and nocebo 17 (Dworkin et al 1983; for the review, see Benedetti et al 2007) effects in healthy individuals (placebo analgesia 18 , psychostimulant expectation) and patients with Parkinson's disease or unipolar major depressive disorder demonstrate that beliefs and expectations can markedly modulate neurophysiological and neurochemical activity in brain regions involved in perception, movement, pain and various aspects of emotion processing.…”

Section: Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is our brain hardwired to produce God, or is our brain hardwired to perceive God? A systematic review on the role of the brain in mediating religious experience

Fingelkurts

2009

Cogn Process

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To figure out whether the main empirical question "Is our brain hardwired to believe in and produce God, or is our brain hardwired to perceive and experience God?" is answered, this paper presents systematic critical review of the positions, arguments and controversies of each side of the neuroscientific-theological debate and puts forward an integral view where the human is seen as a psycho-somatic entity consisting of the multiple levels and dimensions of human existence (physical, biological, psychological, and spiritual reality), allowing consciousness/mind/spirit and brain/body/matter to be seen as different sides of the same phenomenon, neither reducible to each other. The emergence of a form of causation distinctive from physics where mental/conscious agency (a) is neither identical with nor reducible to brain processes and (b) does exert "downward" causal influence on brain plasticity and the various levels of brain functioning is discussed. This manuscript also discusses the role of cognitive processes in religious experience and outlines what can neuroscience offer for study of religious experience and what is the significance of this study for neuroscience, clinicians, theology and philosophy. A methodological shift from "explanation" to "description" of religious experience is suggested. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion between theologians, cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists.

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When words are painful: Unraveling the mechanisms of the nocebo effect

Cited by 497 publications

References 74 publications

Locked out and still knocking: predictors of excessive demands for postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia

Locked out and still knocking: predictors of excessive demands for postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia

Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

Is our brain hardwired to produce God, or is our brain hardwired to perceive God? A systematic review on the role of the brain in mediating religious experience

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