Matthew J Burke, Davide Cappon, David L Perez, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Emiliano Santarnecchi
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Limited research has directly investigated whether and how placebo effects can be harnessed for the treatment of functional neurological disorder (FND), despite a long-standing and controversial history of interest in this area.
Methods: A small exploratory study was conducted with adults with a cognitive subtype of FND recruited from a single cognitive neurology center in the United States. Participants were given the expectation of receiving cranial stimulation that could benefit their memory symptoms; however, the intervention was sham transcranial magnetic stimulation (placebo). Outcomes included measures of short-term memory testing, subjective memory rating, and state anxiety before and after stimulation. After the study, the true objective and rationale for investigating placebo effects were explained in a scripted debriefing session. Acceptability of the study design and qualitative feedback were collected. Institutional ethics approval and signed consent were obtained.
Results: Three patients (female, N=2; male, N=1; average age=57 years) were recruited. Outcome data were analyzed descriptively at the patient level. Trends of improvement in subjective memory rating, but not objective cognitive test scores, and decreases in state anxiety were observed. After the debriefing session, all patients found the study design to be acceptable (ratings of 70%, 90%, and 100%), and two of the three patients believed that withholding mechanistic information about the intervention was needed to leverage placebo effects as treatment.
Conclusions: In the first study to prospectively investigate the feasibility of harnessing placebo effects for the treatment of FND, promising preliminary findings were obtained, and methods and resources for use in larger future studies are offered.
期刊介绍:
As the official Journal of the American Neuropsychiatric Association, the premier North American organization of clinicians, scientists, and educators specializing in behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, and the clinical neurosciences, the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (JNCN) aims to publish works that advance the science of brain-behavior relationships, the care of persons and families affected by neurodevelopmental, acquired neurological, and neurodegenerative conditions, and education and training in behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry. JNCN publishes peer-reviewed articles on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral manifestations of neurological conditions, the structural and functional neuroanatomy of idiopathic psychiatric disorders, and the clinical and educational applications and public health implications of scientific advances in these areas. The Journal features systematic reviews and meta-analyses, narrative reviews, original research articles, scholarly considerations of treatment and educational challenges in behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry, analyses and commentaries on advances and emerging trends in the field, international perspectives on neuropsychiatry, opinions and introspections, case reports that inform on the structural and functional bases of neuropsychiatric conditions, and classic pieces from the field’s rich history.