UCLouvain SIG PAIN conference: Mind over matter: how expectations shape health and treatment outcomes in pain and beyond.
22-04-2026 - 17:00
Seminar and meetings
In this presentation, Ulrike Bingel will discuss the complex psychoneurobiological mechanisms underlying placebo and nocebo effects in pain and beyond. Drawing on behavioral paradigms, pharmacological modulation studies, and advanced neuroimaging approaches, she will demonstrate how expectations and prior treatment experiences—key drivers of placebo and nocebo responses—shape pain and analgesia and other clinical outcomes across a wide range of medical conditions. The talk will examine how placebo and nocebo effects interact with active pharmacological treatments, influencing both therapeutic efficacy and the occurrence of side effects with important implications for clinical settings as well as the design, conduct, and interpretation of placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, the presentation will address key open questions, persistent challenges, and future directions in this field, all aimed at harnessing beneficial placebo effects, minimizing nocebo-related harm, and advancing truly personalized, mechanism-informed treatment strategies.
Ulrike Bingel
University Hospital Essen (Germany)
affiche-portrait-avril-22-2026.pdf
Avenue Mounier 72, Tour ICP 74
ICP 2
Floor number :0
Brussels