Kube T, Rief W, Vivell MB, et al. - Considering the recent research establishing a possible efficacy of placebos even if they are openly prescribed to participants, researchers here compared 2 versions of “open-label placebos” (OLPs) to deceptive placebo and no treatment (NT). Pain assessment was performed in 117 healthy volunteers at baseline and posttreatment using a standard heat pain paradigm. Except NT group, all groups were provided an inert placebo cream after the first assessment. Administration of OLP was done by either evoking positive expectancies or by raising hope for placebo analgesia, thus distinguishing for the first time conceptually between expectancy and hope in experimental pain research. The 3 treatment groups showed a larger increase in pain tolerance compared with NT, whereas the treatment groups did not differ from each other. In this study, evidence for traditional placebo analgesia on the basis of deception was thus gained. For OLP, it was noted that OLP indeed enhanced pain tolerance; however, participants taking OLP were reluctant to state any subjective analgesic effects. Combined with previous studies, the present conclusions suggest that healthy volunteers exhibit weaker effects of OLP than clinical samples.