Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
Published on: January 20, 2012
[Why control conditions are rarely without effect in clinical intervention research]
Erik J Giltay1,2, Saskia le Cessie3
1LUMC, Leiden. Afd. Psychiatrie.
Abstract:
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) often assume an unchanging control condition. When blinding is not feasible, waitlist or standard-care conditions can evoke negative expectations and nocebo effects. Differences between the intervention and control conditions are therefore determined not only therapeutically, but also contextually. Psychopathology and various somatic conditions are increasingly understood as disturbances of a complex dynamic system, in which small changes can trigger large shifts. Effects that may appear to be of little significance, such as the impact that assignment to a control condition has on people's expectations, may have major effects on the outcome.
Related Concept Videos
Controls in Experiments
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
What is an Experiment?
Blinding
Blind Procedures
Operant Conditioning Intervention
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
