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Published online 18 July 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news070716-10
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Revealed: how the mind processes placebo effect
Expecting a big reward helps the reward to come true.
Neuroscientists have found that people who experience a strong dose of pleasure at the thought of an upcoming reward are more susceptible to the placebo effect.
The research shows how the placebo effect, in which patients perceive a benefit from a medical treatment despite it having no genuine therapeutic activity, hinges on the brain's 'reward centre' — a region that predicts our future expectations of positive experiences, and which is also implicated in gambling and drug addiction.
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