Placebo, Hypnosis, and Functional Disorders
Bridging basic research and clinical innovation
14-16 October 2026 – Amphithéâtre Lucien Cuénot – 13 rue Godron, Nancy, FRANCE
Program
Oct 14
8:30-9:30> Registration and welcome
9:30-10:00> Opening address [Clément Apelian]
10:00-11:00> Keynote lecture – Almost a Miracle: Lessons from the Medical Archives of Lourdes [Anne Harrington]
11:00-11:30> Break
11:30-12:30> Keynote lecture – Functional Neurological Disorder, Suggestion, Placebo, and Virtual Reality: neuroanatomical and computational perspectives [Quinton Deeley]
12:30-14:00> Lunch break
14:00-15:00> Defining and modeling suggestion across contexts
14:00-14:20> Developing an international expert consensus definition of suggestion: A modified Delphi study [Madeline Stein]
14:20-14:40> The architecture of suggestion: A multidimensional model [Devin Terhune]
14:40-15:00> Panel discussion
15:00-16:00> Poster flash talks
16:00-16:30> Break
16:30-18:00> Psychedelic experiences, expectancies, and FND treatment perspectives
17:00-17:20> Divine Placebo: A Study of Contextual Induction of Exceptional Experiences [Nathan Eulry]
17:20-17:40> Beliefs, Expectations and Psychedelics (BEAP) [Matthew Cohen]
17:40-18:00> Psychedelics in functional neurological disorder: assessing expectancy [Matt Butler]
17:30-18:00> Panel discussion
18:00-19:30> Social activity
Contact: contact@phfd-conf.org
Oct 15
9:00-10:00> Keynote lecture – Functional Neurological Disorder – past present future [Jon Stone]
10:00-10:30> Break
10:30-12:30> FND, placebo, and nocebo: from embodied predictions to clinical outcomes
10:30-10:50> Functional seizures as disorders of embodied prediction [Mahinda Yogarajah]
10:50:11:10> The Nocebo-Tuned Bayesian Brain in Pain in Functional Neurological Disorder [Livia Asan]
11:10-11:30> Exploring the placebo effect on force production in patients with functional weakness [Mirta Fiorio]
11:30-11:50> The therapeutic power of expectations in paediatric functional abdominal pain disorders [Arine Vlieger]
11:50-12:30> Panel discussion
12:30-14:00> Lunch break
14:00-15:00>Dissociation: The Missing Link? [Coraline Hingray]
15:00-16:30> From conflict to control: basic mechanisms
15:00-15:20> Acting on your own: a suggested conflict triggers involuntary adaptation behavior [Anastassia Loukianov]
15:20-15:40> Examining the temporal dynamics of the response to imagery-based suggestions for both first-person and third-person measures [Alexandre Coutté]
15:40-16:00> Motor imagery and hypnosis for shaping the mind: Hear less, perform better [Aymeric Guillot]
16:00-16:30> Panel discussion
16:30-17:00> Break
17:00-18:30> Translating the neuroscience of hypnosis to application in FND
16:30-16:50> Functional Imaging of Hypnosis: Mapping Neural Mechanisms [William McGeown]
16:50-17:10> Whole-Head TD-fNIRS of Hemodynamic Changes During Hypnotherapy in FND [Anirban Dutta]
17:10-17:30> Hypnosis and FND: Neuroimaging-Based Meta-Analytic Evidence for Reversal [Abhijit Das]
18:00-18:30> Panel discussion
19:30> Gala dinner
Oct 16
9:00-10:00> Keynote lecture – Open-label Placebo’s Challenge [Ted Kaptchuk]
10:00-10:30> Break
10:30-12:30> Focus on placebo: mechanisms, rationales, and ethics
10:30-10:50> Do placebo effects simply counter nocebo effects? [Giulio Ongaro]
10:50-11:10> Dismantling open-label placebos and their rationales: a 4-arm RCT [Leo Druart]
11:10:11:30> Gentle medicine revisited [Urte Laukaityte]
11:30-11:50> Informing the patient of the placebo option: an ethical necessity likely to reduce inappropriate prescriptions? [Fabrice Berna]
11:50-12:30> Panel discussion
12:30-14:00> Lunch Break
14:00-15:00> Keynote lecture – Rituals of Transformation: A Cultural-Ecosocial Approach to Functional Disorders and Hypnosis [Laurence Kirmayer]
15:00-16:30>Roundtable: embracing complexity – a roadmap for future research
16:30-17:00 > Closing address and poster award
Registration
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