Endogenous cortisol and conditioned placebo effects on pain - A randomized trial.

Placebo effects can be induced by learning and conditioning processes, which in turn are influenced and modulated by glucocorticoids. Accordingly, previous research has shown that intervention-related associative learning can be modulated through exogenous as well as endogenous glucocorticoids. Thus, the aim of this study was to elucidate whether placebo effects induced by conditioning is modulated by daily fluctuations of endogenous cortisol levels in healthy male and female subjects.