The effects of many treatments are determined, to a significant degree, by factors other than the medicine or treatment itself. For example, placebo effects can be equal to the effect size of for example antidepressants or painkillers. Contributing factors are the trust placed in the doctor, the expectation…

We study how communication can heal and harm when patients are confronted with an illness. Most of our studies focus on serious illnesses such as advanced cancer. Communication lies at the heart of medicine, yet we do not always know which specific communication helps patients. Moreover, many complaints…

The Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies Leiden (IPS) aims to advance the understanding of placebo and nocebo effects, their underlying mechanisms, and their potential applications in clinical practice. IPS consists of a group of interdisciplinary researchers working at Leiden University with…

The major aim is to examine the potential of learning the body to produce a similar physiological (autonomic, neuroendocrine, or immune) and physical (e.g., desensitization of persistent physical symptoms) response to placebo medication than to active medication (pharmacological conditioning). If proven…

Even if you have a healthy lifestyle, there's a lot to experience and learn during the Healthy University Week, from 26 to 30 October. Health psychologist Andrea Evers is enthusiastic about the week ahead. She tells us about the programme and gives us a taste of her own talk on what the placebo effect…

Positive expectations can influence sensations of itch and evoke placebo effects, whereas negative expectations can trigger nocebo effects in itch. There is evidence that placebo effects can occur even when people know that they are taking a placebo. Little is known about how these so-called open-label…

Medicines can work even if they have no active ingredient. The first international scientific conference on placebos will take place in Leiden from 2 to 4 April. Placebo researcher Andrea Evers, who is also chairing the conference, answers some pressing questions.

While many healthcare professionals indicate that they frequently use placebo effects and their mechanisms, there is little formal training on how to deal with placebo and nocebo effects in clinical practice. This project aims to address this gap between scientific knowledge on placebo and nocebo effects…

We aim to create an innovative e-learning and virtual reality training that helps healthcare providers to optimize placebo effects and minimizes nocebo effects via their communication.

If a pill containing no active ingredients still helps, this positive expectation is called a placebo effect. A negative expectation is called a nocebo effect. Both can be produced by verbal suggestions and conditioning. According to Andrea Evers’ research group, combining these is the most promising…

From painful joints to intense fatigue: a third of rheumatism patients suffer serious effects from this chronic condition and rely long-term on medication. Leiden psychologists are to receive a subsidy from the Netherlands Arthritis Foundation to investigate whether placebo techniques can help patients…

In this research line, the role pharmacological agents and neurochemcial processes play in behavior and cognition is examined with a particular focus on pain, placebo and nocebo effects and intensive care treatments.

Psychological processes have a major effect on the course of a disease and the effects of medical treatment. Researchers in the field of Psychoneurobiology examine the interactions between body and mind. They investigate the effects of stress as well as the effect of placebos and nocebos, which can…

In his book The magic of healing, Willem van der Does talks about 14 pioneers in the history of psychiatry. These pioneers all had one thing in common: they started with a radical idea which led to great enthusiasm.

Online Convex Optimization for the Effective Curvature

Does an Emotional Working Memory Training show a beneficial transfer effect on emotion regulation (reappraisal) capacities in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder?

We find ourselves in an era of transition, not just towards a more computing- and data-driven society but also away from unsustainable fossil fuels as an energy source.

Persistent somatic symptoms are long term symptoms that lack a clear medical explanation. These symptoms have a high prevalence where most people know someone who experiences such symptoms or they experience such symptoms themselves. Symptoms can vary greatly in and between people. While one person…

On 1 October 2019, Emile Cammeraat defended his thesis 'Economic Effects of Social Protection'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. K.P. Goudswaard and Prof. P.W.C. Koning.

The major aim is to determine the psychophysiological responses to stress and stress-management interventions and to examine the role of stress and stress-related psychophysiological mechanisms (e.g., cognitions, behaviors, and physiological stress responses) in both healthy and medical populations.

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Promotor: R. Tijdeman

There are many complex links in the chain that provides patients with new drugs: from fundamental science, to clinical tests, to production. The entire chain can be found in Leiden. Leiden University, the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the businesses at the Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP)…

Is it possible to pharmacologically condition oxytocin responses in healthy individuals and identify the neural circuitry underlying such conditioning?

This study is the first to directly relate brain development to sex differences and school performance. The results debunk the myth that brain development is slower in boys.

How do different emotional expressions influence the behavior of other people in negotiations?

The Role and Effectiveness of the G20. In this article, published in The Changing Global Order part of the United Nations University Series on Regionalism book series, author Jaroslaw Kantorowicz discusses the evolution of the G20.

Artful Mathematics: The Heritage of M. C. Escher

Simona Demková, Assistant professor at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, publishes her book ‘Automated Decision-Making and Effective Remedies: The New Dynamics in the Protection of EU Fundamental Rights in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice’.

The Zmapp medicine has been developed with funding from the US government within the framework of the Small Business Innovation Research programme. The European Commission tried to emulate the success of this programme within the EU. Has its effort been adequate and sufficient? Is procurement of research…

Ice, the solid state of water, plays an important role on our planet as well as the entire universe.Despite the fact that an individual water molecule has a very simple structure, its chemical bonding in the solid phase can be surprisingly complex.

In this thesis, the role of plant-mediated soil legacy effects in shaping aboveground plant-insect interactions was investigated.

What are interactive effects of human pressures on aquatic communities?

Promotor: Prof.dr. A. Achucarro, Co-Promotor: J.W. van Holten

What is effective viewing behavior for foreign language learners and how can teachers effectively train language learners to apply effective viewing strategies that will maximize their learning when viewing subtitled materials?

The discovery of new medicines is a tedious and lengthy process. On average, over 10,000 molecules need to be studied for one to become a drug and reach the patient. Part of that process are the very costly clinical trials in humans, and candidate drugs often fail due to side effects or lack of efficacy.…

The thesis describes terrestrial field trials aimed to detect side-effects of pesticides within the framework of pesticide registration procedures. Field trials were developed using vascular plants Brassica napus and Poa annua, caterpillars Pieris brassicae and effects on decomposition were studied…

Promotor: Prof. dr. Arnold Tukker & Prof. dr. René Kemp (Maastricht University)

What role play stress and fear in forming of nocebo hyperalgesia?

Description of Effects of glufosinate-ammonium on off crop vegetation.

To relieve a patient's pain, it can be effective to induce expectations. This finding is promising for optimising the effectiveness of treatments, conclude Kaya Peerdeman and colleagues in their article in PAIN.