A new study finds that the placebo effect actually alters brain
activity. The study published in the American Journal of
Psychiatry is the first of its kind to suggest that patients
with major depression who receive placebos experience changes in
brain function similar to changes caused by medication. The
double blind study conducted by UCLA researchers used
quantitative electroencephalography or QEEG imaging to look at
brain activity in 51 patients who were assigned to receive
either placebos or one of two antidepressant medications. After
nine weeks, patients were classified as being medication
responders, placebo responders, or non-responders to either
medication or placebos. "The placebo responders and the
medication responders had changes in the same brain region,"
says Dr. Andrew Leuchter, lead author of the study and director
of adult psychiatry at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and
Hospital. Placebo responders showed more activity in the
prefrontal cortex while medication responders showed less a