What influences placebo and nocebo responses in Parkinson's disease?

Placebo treatment is associated with clinical improvements in many medical conditions, but is particularly important in Parkinson's disease because improvements are common, marked, and associated with objective neurochemical and neurophysiologic changes. This review will focus on the effect of the placebo in patients with PD and will discuss the pathophysiology, observed characteristics of motor and nonmotor placebo responses, and the patient and study characteristics that modify the placebo response. Similar to the placebo response, nocebo and lessebo effects alter clinical trial outcomes and impact conclusions. Whereas placebo-associated improvements are positively viewed by patients in clinical practice, they complicate clinical trials. The authors suggest strategies to reduce placebo effects during randomized placebo-controlled trials evaluating new therapies. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.