Now, a new study finds that even when researchers tell people that what they will receive contains no active ingredients, a placebo can produce a positive neurobiological effect.The study, from researchers at Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Dartmouth College, is published in Nature Communications.In clinical trials, researchers do not typically inform control-group participants they have been given placebos that contain no active ingredients.
Such “deceptive” placebos sometimes appear to produce benefits, which suggests they may have value on their own as a safe, inexpensive means of helping patients.