Placebo effects are only part of the story. Our new review argues that antidepressant trial outcomes are also influenced by diagnostic uncertainty, illness trajectory, measurement variability, and functional unblinding, with important implications for drug development. doi.org/10.1176/appi...

Determinants of Nonspecific Response to Treatment in Randomized Controlled Trials of Major Depressive Disorder: A Narrative Review | American Journal of Psychiatry

The design, conduct, and interpretation of double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials in major depressive disorder (MDD) are complicated by determinants of nonspecific response to trea...

doi.org

We might finally get chaos under Ed Miliband

I’m guest editing a new BMC Psychiatry Collection on #placebo and #nocebo effects in psychiatry. We’re looking for work on expectancy mechanisms, communication, and implications for clinical practice + trials. Details: link.springer.com/collections/... @sfb-trr-289.bsky.social

We are accepting proposals for symposia from BAP members for the #BAP2027 Summer Meeting which will be held in Newcastle. Deadline 6th March. For more information and to submit a proposal go to

The British Association for Psychopharmacology | 2027 Summer Meeting – Newcastle

The British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) promotes research and education in psychopharmacology, and brings together people in academia, health services, and industry

bap.org.uk

REGISTER NOW for #BAP2026 Summer Meeting in Birmingham, 19th - 22nd July. For more information and to register go to

The British Association for Psychopharmacology | 2026 Summer Meeting – Birmingham

The British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) promotes research and education in psychopharmacology, and brings together people in academia, health services, and industry

bap.org.uk

It was a real privilege to be invited to present on treatment-resistance in anxiety disorders at the Psychiatry Masterclass 2025 at the Conrad Dubai. Many thanks to the organising and scientific committees for inviting me! It was great to be there with such excellent speakers!

Our new Insights article out now in European Neuropsychopharmacology We argue that poor control conditions in digital therapeutics trials risk misleading efficacy claims. Let’s raise the bar for DTx trial design. 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/a/1l-8p,L21E... @ecnp.eu #DTx #MentalHealth #ClinicalTrials

It was great to present on placebo and nocebo effects in depressive and anxiety disorders in an educational update session at the ECNP Congress. Many thanks to the educational committee for inviting me! @ecnp.eu

🎥 Two new #SFB289 #webinars are uploaded on our YouTube channel! 🎥 In September 2025, @nathanhuneke.bsky.social presented his work on placebo effects in psychiatric disorders: youtu.be/Z1pyhXSV5RE

Webinar: Nathan Huneke - Toward improved understanding of placebo effects in psychiatric disorders

YouTube video by SFB-TRR 289 "Treatment Expectation"

youtu.be

Great to collaborate on this with @hvansteenbergen.bsky.social! We found evidence that endogenous opioids mediate attentional broadening after receiving rewards.

@hvansteenbergen.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Excited to share that our paper “Seeing the bigger picture: Endogenous opioids mediate attentional broadening after reward receipt” has just been published in Psychological Medicine!

Really enjoyed the opportunity to present at the SFB289 webinar!

The Power of Expectations@sfb-trr-289.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Today's main speaker is @nathanhuneke.bsky.social who is trying to better understand placebo effects in psychiatric disorders in his research 🤯 If you missed it, don't worry, his talk will be available soon on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/@sfb-trr_289...) 🤩

Great to be part of this

Maurizio Sicorello@msicorello.bsky.social · 12mo ago

BIG PREPRINT🔬 In a newly founded consortium we show that we barely know anything about the neurobiology underlying emotion regulation capacity! (40 fmri samples, N=2175) So, time-out for prefrontal cortex explanations! And we also show why this might be the case 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our new study published in TheLancetPsych! We found that pramipexole augmentation substantially reduced depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression over 48 weeks of treatment. This is an important advance in how we treat depression! 1/6 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Pramipexole augmentation for the acute phase of treatment-resistant, unipolar depression: a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised trial in the UK

In this trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, pramipexole augmentation of antidepressant treatment, at a target dose of 2·5 mg, demonstrated a reduction in symptoms relativ...

thelancet.com

Timely article!

Eduardo Schenberg, PhD@eeschenberg.bsky.social · last yr.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Our thoughts on missing data, statistics and placebo effects in psychiatric trials. Thanks Samuele Cortese and Marco Solmi! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Understanding Placebo Mechanisms to Reduce Attrition in Psychiatric Trials

Placebo responses in psychiatric trials are clinically significant and variable.1 When placebo response is large, the assay sensitivity of a clinical trial can be impacted, meaning that it can potenti...

jamanetwork.com

Very important initiative!

Melissa Kline Struhl@mekline.bsky.social · last yr.

Psych-DS is (1) spellcheck for your datasets and (2) a pathway to standardizing data in our academic fields that *everyone* can learn. And it's live RIGHT NOW! psych-ds.github.io (This is the announcement post I've been leading up to)

Our new review in JAMA Psychiatry: "Expectancy Effects, Failure of Blinding Integrity, and Placebo Response in Trials of Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders" jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... Thanks to co-first author Guil Fusetto-Veronesi; and to Samuele Cortese, David Baldwin, Matt Garner 🧵👇

Expectancy Effects, Blinding Integrity, and Placebo Response in Psychiatric Disorders

This narrative review discusses the impact of expectancy effects and functional unblinding on treatment responses in randomized clinical trials of treatments in psychiatry.

jamanetwork.com

Our new review in JAMA Psychiatry: "Expectancy Effects, Failure of Blinding Integrity, and Placebo Response in Trials of Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders" jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... Thanks to co-first author Guil Fusetto-Veronesi; and to Samuele Cortese, David Baldwin, Matt Garner 🧵👇

Expectancy Effects, Blinding Integrity, and Placebo Response in Psychiatric Disorders

This narrative review discusses the impact of expectancy effects and functional unblinding on treatment responses in randomized clinical trials of treatments in psychiatry.

jamanetwork.com

🧠 Help Us Understand Pain Perception in FND! 🧠 Looking for volunteers with & without #FND for a study in London @kingsioppn.bsky.social. Single lab visit testing pain perception with electrical stimulation. Interested? Please message me: Livia.Asan@kcl.ac.uk ✉️ Thanks for sharing!

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

#Pubmed problems being reported Please say if it’s working for you, your country and search engine (perhaps retweet for larger sample size 🤷‍♂️ fine for me, UK & Safari

Pleased to be able to share our meta-analysis exploring placebo and nocebo response in gambling disorder, out now in Acta Neuropsychiatrica. This is the first meta-analysis of placebo response in RCTs for gambling disorder. https://buff.ly/3V8dnk3

New starter pack: Mental Health Professionals For facts/expertise, but not individual clinical advice! Just getting started... will add more as time goes by... bsky.app/starter-pack...

Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners at last night’s #VCAwards2024 🏆✨ Held at St Mary’s Stadium, it was an inspiring evening recognising the dedication and talent across our University. #WeAreUoS

Is there a way to search for starter packs?

Trying bluesky again. Which feeds should I follow?

Very pleased this is now available online "Placebo Effects Are Small on Average in the 7.5% CO2 Inhalational Model of Generalised Anxiety" academic.oup.com/ijnp/advance... 🧵👇

Placebo Effects Are Small on Average in the 7.5% CO2 Inhalational Model of Generalised Anxiety

AbstractBackground. Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and socio-economically costly. Novel pharmacological treatments for these disorders are needed a

academic.oup.com

Excited to announce I am joining the #ECNP Early Career Academy! Looking forward to working with everyone else in the academy on applied #neuroskyence

How to define treatment resistance in anxiety disorders? Our Delphi method-based consensus is out now in World Psychiatry. Led by Katharina Domschke and David Baldwin via the ECNP Anxiety Disorders Research Network www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...

The definition of treatment resistance in anxiety disorders: a Delphi method‐based consensus guide...

Anxiety disorders are very prevalent and often persistent mental disorders, with a considerable rate of treatment resistance which requires regulatory clinical trials of innovative therapeutic interve...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov