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The placebo effect is fascinating - where we gain a similar effect from a sham treatment as from the real thing and can amount to 40 per cent or more of the benefit of a medication. But what exactly is the placebo effect? The placebo effect is fascinating - where we gain a similar effect from a sham treatment as from the real thing - and it can amount to 40 per cent or more of the benefit of a medication. But what exactly is the placebo effect? Is it a special brain function all on its own? Research using brain scans suggests there is no placebo section in the brain. It's more complicated. Researchers found that when people with depression got benefit from either an anti-depressant or a placebo, similar parts of the brain lit up. The placebo and drug were affecting the same places - it was just that the medication was more likely to work and had a more deep seated effect - which was reflected in the lower relapse rate. The other fascinating finding - again in both drug and placebo responders, was that those who benefited expected to do so, and there was an expectation area in the brain that lit up early on in both groups. The message seems to be that what we're led to believe is going to happen by the doctor - or perhaps the media - is really important.
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