Department of Neurology, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany.
Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Level 6, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 22;11(1):2130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-81502-2.
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. The trial was preregistered at the German Clinical Trials Register on December 20, 2017 (DRKS00013557).
心理困扰在学生中很普遍，并且可能导致精神障碍。最近的研究结果表明，痛苦可能与学生认知表现受损有关。健康参与者的实验结果表明，安慰剂干预可以改善认知。然而，非欺骗性（即开放标签，OLP）安慰剂是否可以增强认知功能和情绪健康尚不清楚。我们使用随机对照设计，在期中考试期间，在健康学生中进行为期 21 天的 OLP 应用后，证明了 OLP 对主观幸福感（即压力、疲劳和困惑）的积极影响。OLP 并未提高测试成绩，但在 OLP 组中，测试成绩与对药物益处的一般信念的衡量标准呈正相关。这些结果表明，OLP 可以抵消急性压力对心理幸福感的负面影响，如果得到积极的治疗期望的支持，它可能会提高认知表现。此外，我们在健康志愿者中的发现为探索 OLP 在减轻患者与压力相关的心理影响方面的潜力提供了进一步的研究依据。该试验于 2017 年 12 月 20 日在德国临床试验注册处（DRKS00013557）进行了预先注册。
