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Effects of open-label placebos on test performance and psychological well-being in healthy medical students : a randomized controlled trial

Psychological distress is prevalent in students and can predispose to psychiatric disorders. Recent findings indicate that distress might be linked to impaired cognitive performance in students. Experimental findings in healthy participants suggest that placebo interventions can improve cognition. However, whether non-deceptive (i.e., open-label, OLP) placebos can enhance cognitive function and emotional well-being is unclear. Using a randomized-controlled design we demonstrate a positive impact of OLP on subjective well-being (i.e., stress, fatigue, and confusion) after a 21-day OLP application in healthy students during midterm exams. OLP did not improve test performance, but, within the OLP group, test performance was positively correlated with measures of general belief in the benefit of medication. These results show that OLP can counteract negative effects of acute stress on psychological well-being and might improve cognitive performance if supported by positive treatment expectations. Additionally, our findings in healthy volunteers warrant further investigation in exploring the potential of OLP in reducing stress-related psychological effects in patients.

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Date Issued:
22.01.2021
URN:
urn:nbn:de:hbz:465-20240827-092341-6
DOI:
10.1038/s41598-021-81502-2
Language:
English
Type of Resource:
Text
Keywords:
Cognitive neuroscience; Fatigue; Human behaviour; Stress and resilience
Collection:
E-Publications
Subject categories of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie:
610 Medical sciences Medicine
Hosting institution:
Faculty of Medicine, Essen University Hospital, Clinic for Neurology
funding:

The publication of this article was supported by the Publication Fund of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project-ID 422744262 – TRR 289. Author J.K-B. was supported as a Clinician Scientist within the University Medicine Essen Academy (UMEA) program, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; Grant FU356/12-1) and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen.

Info on primary publication:

Kleine-Borgmann, J., Schmidt, K., Billinger, M. et al. Effects of open-label placebos on test performance and psychological well-being in healthy medical students: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep11, 2130 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81502-2

Published 22 January 2021

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Version of Record / Verlagsversion

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Kleine-Borgmann, Julian et al. (2021): Effects of open-label placebos on test performance and psychological well-being in healthy medical students: a randomized controlled trial. Online unter: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:465-20240827-092341-6.
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© The Author(s) 2021

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