PLACEBO EFFECT DISCOVERED IN BRAIN

The “placebo effect” where a sugar pill has as much healing effectiveness as the real thing is purely a matter of the power of suggestion. Today, however, scientists who have access to brain imagine techniques are discovering that the placebo effect is active in the brain.

In one study, reported in a Washington Post article summarizing such research, PET scans of the brains of patients who were told they were receiving pain-killing injections showed the brain excreting more endorphins into the body than when patients were told they were receiving a neutral injection.

In another study, involving patients with Parkinson’s disease, researchers found the neural firing responsible for tremors decreased following the administration of a placebo. If the placebo was administered covertly, without the patient’s knowledge, there was no difference in nerve firing.

An interesting flip side to this research: Alzheimer’s patients seem to have a significantly reduced placebo effect. Researchers speculate that is because of the damage to that part of the brain that can comprehend and anticipate relief. Without the anticipation of expected benefit, no placebo effect can be initiated.

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