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1: Science. 2004 Feb 20;303(5661):1162-7.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Science. 2004 Feb 20;303(5661):1121.
Science. 2004 May 21;304(5674):1109-11; author reply 1109-11.

Placebo-induced changes in FMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain.

Wager TD, Rilling JK, Smith EE, Sokolik A, Casey KL, Davidson RJ, Kosslyn SM, Rose RM, Cohen JD.

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1109, USA. torw@umich.edu

The experience of pain arises from both physiological and psychological factors, including one's beliefs and expectations. Thus, placebo treatments that have no intrinsic pharmacological effects may produce analgesia by altering expectations. However, controversy exists regarding whether placebos alter sensory pain transmission, pain affect, or simply produce compliance with the suggestions of investigators. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, we found that placebo analgesia was related to decreased brain activity in pain-sensitive brain regions, including the thalamus, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex, and was associated with increased activity during anticipation of pain in the prefrontal cortex, providing evidence that placebos alter the experience of pain.

PMID: 14976306 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]