Placebo is magic. It's what makes 4 pills stronger than 2 pills of the same overall dose. It's what makes an injection stronger than a pill of the same thing. It's what makes "trust me I'm a doctor" work better than "sorry this is my first time doing this". It sure seems like something that has no business being in the field of medicine, or in scientific journals, or your local hospital, but it is, and because it has to be, because it's real. I mean, it's fake, but it's real, because it works. And that's because we, as humans, are weird as hell. And being susceptible to false beliefs is actually a survival trait. (But is there such thing as a false belief?)
How the placebo effect tricks the mind into relieving pain
May 2025, phys.org
The team found that the placebo effect occurred as a result of brain signals related to the endogenous opioid system in the medial prefrontal cortex, a region at the front of the brain, which in the presence of the placebo injections set off the descending pain inhibitory system.
via RIKEN: Hiroyuki Neyama et al, Opioidergic activation of the descending pain inhibitory system underlies placebo analgesia, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adp8494
Image credit: AI Art - Multivitamin Supplements - 2025
Gluten sensitivity linked to gut–brain interaction, not gluten itself, study finds
Oct 2025, phys.org
I'll take "other ways to say it's all in your head" for 100
- This is about non-celiac gluten sensitivity or NCGS.
- "Gluten sensitivity is not actually about gluten but part of the way the gut and brain interact."
- "Contrary to popular belief, most people with NCGS aren't reacting to gluten."
- "Our findings show that symptoms are more often triggered by fermentable carbohydrates, commonly known as FODMAPs, by other wheat components or by people's expectations and prior experiences with food."
- "Across recent studies, people with IBS who believe they're gluten-sensitive react similarly to gluten, wheat, and placebo. This suggests that how people anticipate and interpret gut sensations can strongly influence their symptoms."
Later on:
Overall, people's responses were no different from when they were given a placebo.
Seriously how many other words do we need to use to hide the fact that they're saying no, there's no evidence of this happening?
via University of Melbourne: Jessica R Biesiekierski et al, Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(25)01533-8
Meditation retreat rapidly reprograms body and mind, brain monitoring reveals
Nov 2025, phys.org
Open Label Placebo - participants knowingly take part in healing activities presented as placebos with no active medical ingredient, but which can still produce real benefits through the power of expectation, social connection and shared practices.20 healthy adults attended a 7-day residential program featuring daily lecture sessions, approximately 33 hours of guided meditation and group healing practices. Before and after the retreat, participants had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and had blood testing.
The researchers observed several major changes after the retreat:
- Brain network changes: Meditation during the retreat reduced activity in parts of the brain associated with mental chatter, making brain function more efficient overall.
- Enhanced neuroplasticity: When applied to laboratory-grown neurons, blood plasma from post-retreat participants made brain cells grow longer branches and form new connections.
- Metabolic shifts: Cells treated with post-retreat plasma showed an increase in glycolytic (sugar-burning) metabolism, indicating a more flexible and adaptive metabolic state.
- Natural pain relief: Blood levels of endogenous opioids—the body's natural painkillers—increased after the retreat, indicating that the body's natural pain-relief systems were activated.
- Immune activation: Meditation increased inflammatory and anti-inflammatory immune signals simultaneously, suggesting a complex, adaptive immune response rather than a simple suppression or activation.
- Gene and molecular signaling changes: Small RNA and gene activity in blood shifted after the retreat, particularly in pathways related to brain function.
- Limitations - this was done with all healthy participants
via University of California San Diego: Alex Jinich-Diamant et al, Neural and molecular changes during a mind-body reconceptualization, meditation, and open label placebo healing intervention, Communications Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-09088-3
Post Script - Nocebo is the evil twin of Placebo, and it happens when you think a medication or treatment will make you worse, and they use instead of the medication a placebo, and it still makes your condition worse.
Etymology - early 13c., name given to the rite of Vespers of the Office of the Dead, so called from the opening of the first antiphon, "I will please the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm cxvi.9, in Vulgate Placebo Domino in regione vivorum), from Latin placebo "I shall please," future indicative of placere "to please" ... Medical sense is recorded by 1785, "a medicine given more to please than to benefit the patient." Placebo effect is attested from 1900. (etymonline.com)
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