The study of placebo analgesia provides insights into how pain and clinical outcomes are shaped by social, cognitive, and affective processes.
Treatments for pain are highly influenced by the clinical context and the patient–provider relationship, which modulate pain by altering expectations, shifting mood, or providing social support.
Placebo effects on pain depend on similar types of psychological mechanisms to other placebo effects, and underlying brain mechanisms comprise both shared and distinct processes.
The study of placebo has implications for mitigating health disparities and addressing the opioid crisis.
To improve human health, pain researchers should work together with social and affective neuroscientists to understand the links between pain, affect, and social processing.
Pain is a fundamental experience that promotes survival. In humans, pain stands at the intersection of multiple health crises: chronic pain, the opioid epidemic, and health disparities. The study of placebo analgesia highlights how social, cognitive, and affective processes can directly shape pain, and identifies potential paths for mitigating these crises. This review examines recent progress in the study of placebo analgesia through affective science. It focuses on how placebo effects are shaped by expectations, affect, and the social context surrounding treatment, and discusses neurobiological mechanisms of placebo, highlighting unanswered questions and implications for health. Collaborations between clinicians and social and affective scientists can address outstanding questions and leverage placebo to reduce pain and improve human health.
