Table of Contents

Series Foreword vii
Introduction: The Black Door 1
1 Placebos: A Brief History 15
2 How Expectations and Conditioning Shape Placebo Effects 47
3 The Brain on Placebos 67
4 Nocebo Effects in Modern Medicine 89
5 Placebos in Clinical Trials 107
6 The Placebo Effect in Surgery 127
7 Who Responds? 137
8 Placebo Redux 155
Acknowledgments 167
Glossary 169
Notes 173
Further Reading 193
Index 195

About the Author

Kathryn T. Hall is Deputy Executive Director of Boston Public Health Commission and Assistant Professor (part-time) in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Molecular Biologist in the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.