Due to the recent explosion of placebo research at many levels the Editors believe that a volume on Placebo would be a good addition to the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology series. In particular, this volume will be built up on a meeting on Placebo which will be held in Tuebingen (Germany) in January 2013, and where the most prominent researchers in this field will present and exchange their ideas. The authors who will be invited to write chapters for this volume will be the very same speakers at this meeting, thus guaranteeing high standard and excellence in the topic that will be treated. The approach of the book is mainly pharmacological, including basic research and clinical trials, and the contents range from different medical conditions and systems, such as pain and the immune system, to different experimental approaches, like in vivo receptor binding and pharmacological/behavioral conditioning. Overall, the volume will give an idea of modern placebo research, of timely concepts in both experimental and clinical pharmacology, as well as of modern methods and tools in neuroscience.
