A follow-up fMRI study of a transferable placebo anxiolytic effect

Our previous study showed that placebo expectations can develop in a transferable manner; for example, a placebo expectation developed within an analgesic experience may lead to reduced anxiety. Considering that activities in such emotion‐responsive areas as the amygdala and insula can be detected t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychophysiology 2011-08, Vol.48 (8), p.1119-1128
Main Authors: Zhang, Wencai, Qin, Shaozheng, Guo, Jianyou, Luo, Jing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amygdala
Amygdala - physiopathology
Analgesics
Anxiety
Anxiety - physiopathology
Anxiety - psychology
Anxiolytics
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology
Cortex (cingulate)
Data processing
Emotions
Expectation
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Negative emotion
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Pain - physiopathology
Pain - psychology
Physiological psychology
Placebo anxiolytic effect
Placebo Effect
Placebos
Subgenual anterior cingulate cortex
Transfer (Psychology)
Young Adult
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Summary:Our previous study showed that placebo expectations can develop in a transferable manner; for example, a placebo expectation developed within an analgesic experience may lead to reduced anxiety. Considering that activities in such emotion‐responsive areas as the amygdala and insula can be detected through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we used fMRI to further study the transferable placebo anxiolytic effect. A main‐effect analysis showed that activity in the amygdala and insula was reduced in the placebo condition, whereas an interaction analysis showed activity in the two regions was selectively attenuated in the placebo condition when unpleasant pictures were viewed. We also observed greater activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex under placebo conditions when either emotionally negative or neutral pictures were viewed. These data suggest that the anxiety‐relieving placebo effect arose from a reward‐related response underpinned by the participants' expectations.
ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01178.x