Neural mechanisms of expectancy-based placebo effects in antidepressant clinical trials

Patient expectancy of therapeutic improvement is a primary mediator of placebo effects in antidepressant clinical trials, but its mechanisms are poorly understood. This study employed a novel antidepressant trial design, with integrated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to manipulate patient outcome expectancy and examine its neural mediators. Twenty-three depressed outpatients, in a randomized controlled trial were assigned to...