Background: Learned placebo effects induced by pharmacological conditioning affect immune and endocrine outcomes and may offer new possibilities for clinical applications. Whether or not cortisol... Show moreBackground: Learned placebo effects induced by pharmacological conditioning affect immune and endocrine outcomes and may offer new possibilities for clinical applications. Whether or not cortisol is subject to this type of associative learning processes, and whether conditioning may affect responses to stress, is currently unclear.Method: A randomized placebo-controlled trial was conducted in 48 healthy young women. During acquisition, participants received a pill containing either 100 mg hydrocortisone (unconditioned stimulus) or placebo, paired with a gustatory conditioned stimulus on three consecutive days. During evocation, all participants received placebo paired with the conditioned stimulus, again on three consecutive days. During the third evocation trial, participants underwent a psychosocial stress task. The main outcome parameter salivary cortisol and secondary outcome parameters salivary alpha-amylase, self-reported positive affect and tension, heart rate, and skin conductance level were measured at several time points.Results: Significant baseline group differences on cortisol were found at several time points, which complicate the interpretation of group differences. During the first evocation session, the conditioned group showed a moderately smaller cumulative decrease in salivary cortisol from baseline than the placebo control group. No significant differences were found between the groups on cortisol during the second and third evocation or in response to stress, nor on other outcome measures.Conclusion: Although the results provide potential further indications for effects of conditioning on cortisol, baseline differences make it impossible to draw clear conclusions. No indications for possible effects of conditioning on the cortisol stress response or autonomous or affective responses to stress were found. Show less
Previous research has provided evidence for the link between psychological processes and psychophysiological health outcomes. Psychological interventions, such as face-to-face or online cognitive... Show morePrevious research has provided evidence for the link between psychological processes and psychophysiological health outcomes. Psychological interventions, such as face-to-face or online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and serious games aimed at improving health, have shown promising results in promoting health outcomes. Few studies so far, however, have examined whether Internet-based CBT combined with serious gaming elements is effective in modulating health outcomes. Moreover, studies often did not incorporate psychophysiological or immunological challenges in order to gain insight into physiological responses to real-life challenges after psychological interventions. The overall aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a psychological intervention on self-reported and physiological health outcomes in response to immune and psychophysiological challenges. Show less
