The right kind of nothing

• Autores: Shannon Fischer
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3064, 2016, págs. 32-34
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Fischer details the strange power of the placebo. People now know that when a person is given a pill they're told is a real medication, or any of a wide range of medical interventions, including surgery; their body creates a real physiological effect. In pain studies, placebos have been shown to dampen activity in the brain's pain-processing areas and increase the production of the body's own analgesic chemicals. It may not be so surprising that pain should succumb to the power of suggestion, but the placebo effect also works on conditions that would not be considered to have a psychological component. People being treated for Parkinson's disease with apomorphine, were only told they might receive a dose of the drug. They showed more dopamine activity in parts of their brain normally affected by the real drug