When I read about studies like these I always wonder how the placebo is done.<p>Here it is actually stated: &quot;sham meditation&quot; and petroleum jelly cream.<p>One of the problems with this is that the experimentors would know who got the placebo and who did not.<p>I don&#x27;t think it is far fetched than a subject would sense whether they were being taught mindfulness mediation which the experimentor perceived as being genuine or &quot;sham meditation&quot; which the experimentor knew to be false.<p>Whether a subject perceives she is undergoing an effective treatment obviously will effect the placebo effect and probably also show on brain scans.