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Molecular Imaging and Biology
Published in: Molecular Imaging and Biology 4/2007

01-07-2007 | Review Article

Understanding the Placebo Effect: Contributions from Neuroimaging

Authors: Sarah C. Christine Lidstone, A. Jon Stoessl

Published in: Molecular Imaging and Biology | Issue 4/2007

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Abstract

Neuroimaging studies have provided a major contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms of the placebo effect in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Expectation of symptom improvement has long been believed to play a critical role in the placebo effect, and is associated with increased endogenous striatal dopamine release in Parkinson’s disease and increased endogenous opioid transmission in placebo analgesia. Evidence from positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies suggests that expectations of symptom improvement are driven by frontal cortical areas, particularly the dorsolateral prefrontal, orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortices. The ventral striatum is involved in the expectation of rewarding stimuli and, together with the prefrontal cortex, has also been shown to play an important role in the placebo-induced expectation of therapeutic benefit. Understanding the mechanisms of the placebo effect has important implications for treatment of several medical conditions, including depression, pain, and Parkinson’s disease.
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Metadata
Title
Understanding the Placebo Effect: Contributions from Neuroimaging
Authors
Sarah C. Christine Lidstone
A. Jon Stoessl
Publication date
01-07-2007
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Molecular Imaging and Biology / Issue 4/2007
Print ISSN: 1536-1632
Electronic ISSN: 1860-2002
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-007-0086-3

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