How can we tell if a depression treatment works beyond placebo? A new real-world method measuring placebo shows that ...

Remember that epic moment from Space Jam (the first one, of course, with Michael Jordan) where Bugs Bunny gives his teammates that very Michael's 'Secret Stuff,' which makes them incredibly strong and ...

A new opinion article in Biology Letters – "Studying placebo effects in model organisms will help us understand them in humans" – dives into the possibility of studying the placebo effect in animals ...

In many medical studies, even people who take “fake” treatments, such as sugar pills with no active ingredients, can still feel better. These are the puzzling “placebo effects”. They are common, ...

Double-blind placebo studies have been called the gold standard for testing medications, especially psychiatric ones. Since the placebo effect is a psychological one, it stands to reason that its ...

Back in the 18th century, German physician Franz Mesmer peddled a concept called animal magnetism. Creatures contain a universal fluid, he asserted, that when blocked in flow, caused sickness. Mesmer ...