The Claim

Placebo analgesia manipulations involving expectations (expectation plus conditioning and expectation-only conditions) facilitate the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR), demonstrating increased spinal nociceptive processing despite reduced subjective pain report.

Source: The Influence of Placebo Analgesia Manipulations on Pain Report, the Nociceptive Flexion Reflex, and Autonomic Responses to Pain.

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
40score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

How it works
1 study reviewed
In plain English

When people expect a pain treatment to work (even if it's just a fake treatment), they often feel less pain - but a new study shows their spinal cord's response to pain signals actually gets stronger, not weaker.

See the scientific wording

Placebo analgesia manipulations involving expectations (E+C and E-only) facilitate the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR), indicating increased spinal nociceptive processing despite reduced pain report

What the research says

1 study

  1. Study: The Influence of Placebo Analgesia Manipulations on Pain Report, the Nociceptive Flexion Reflex, and Autonomic Responses to Pain.

    The study tested people receiving placebo cream with different types of suggestion (expectations only, conditioning only, or both). It found that people who got expectations (either alone or with conditioning) had increased spinal nerve responses (NFR) even though they reported less pain - exactly what the claim says.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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