Placebo analgesia
Placebo analgesia occurs when the administration of placebos leads to pain relief. Because placebos by definition lack active ingredients, the effect of placebo analgesia is considered to result from the patient's belief that they are receiving an analgesic drug or other medical intervention. It has been shown that, in some cases, the endogenous opioid system is critical for mediating placebo analgesia, as evidenced by the ability of such analgesia to be reduced by the opioid antagonist naloxone. However, it is also possible for placebo analgesia to be mediated by non-opioid mechanisms, in which case it would not be affected by naloxone. Other research has indicated that the human spinal cord, prefrontal cortex, and rostral anterior cingulate cortex also play a role in placebo analgesia.
