Dr. Tor Wager of the University
of Michigan said, "We have more control over our own minds than
we think we have."
The pain region of your brain is
just behind your eyes -- the anterior cingulate cortex.
Dr. Matthew Lieberman of the University
of California - Los Angeles said, "It kind of serves as an alarm
system that tells the rest of the mind that you need to pay attention
to this painful thing that's occurring."
Researchers said that alarm system is less active when drugs called
placebos are given to patients. Before, scientists considered
the placebo effect something patients made up.
Wager said, "We think that the placebo
effect is real, so it really changes your experience of pain.
That's something that we haven't really known before."
Brain scans were performed on patients
with irritable bowel syndrome who thought they were receiving
pain relief, but really received a placebo. Even with no medication,
the area of the brain that controls how they perceive pain was
less active.
Lieberman said, "This suggests there
really is a physical basis in the brain, there's a pathway by
which these thoughts and expectations about pain relief can actually
lead to pain relief."
Another study from the University of Michigan suggests
that merely believing in or expecting pain relief actually makes
pain less intense. In that study, people who got a placebo had 25
percent less pain activity in their brain. They also reported 25
percent less pain.
Wager said, "When you're expecting pain with placebo,
you might feel safer, you feel less anxious. Something in your
brain is saying, 'I think this placebo is gonna work. I'm gonna
be OK.'"
Research is ongoing, but scientists said one day
our own minds could control pain as well as medications can.
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