The placebo response in pain and depression: in search of a common pathway.
The placebo effect has been extensively studied in many disease states, some of the most notable being pain and depression. Utilizing a Medline search, studies were identified that reported on areas of the brain shown to be involved in either placebo analgesia or mood response. This paper presents a distillation of this research, in an effort to identify a common "placebo pathway" between mood and pain. Placebo-related responses to both analgesia and relief from depression were reported to be associated with an increase in activity in the frontal cortex and a decrease in activity in the thalamus.
Wernicke
Joachim F
JF
Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA. jfwernicke@lilly.com
Ossanna
Melissa J
MJ
D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010919:Placebos / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects*
D010919:Placebos