Feature Health & Medicine

Imagination Medicine

Brain imaging reveals the substance of placebos. Expectation alone triggers the same neural circuits and chemicals as real drugs

By Jeanne Erdmann

- More than 2 years ago

Placebos are supposed to be nothing. They’re sugar pills, shots of saline, fake creams; they’re given to the comparison group in drug trials so doctors can see whether a new treatment is better than no treatment.