The therapeutic effect of medicines is determined by more than their pharmacological properties. Factors such as the colour of a tablet, its taste and even its price have been found to significantly influence efficacy. This insight has sparked optimism about the potential to enhance drug effects by tweaking these and other features to optimize therapeutic outcomes. In a new article published in Brain, Schenk and colleagues add a somewhat counter-intuitive factor to the list of features that could be targeted to boost the efficacy of a drug: side effects. Read the english commentary by Katja Wiech, Helena Hartmann, and Ulrike Bingel in the journal Brain here. You can find the original study here.