[Frontiers in Bioscience S2, 106-111, January 1, 2010]

[Frontiers in Bioscience S2, 106-111, January 1, 2010]

The placebo response in pain and depression: in search of a common pathway

Joachim F. Wernicke¹, Melissa J. Ossanna¹

1Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Methods
4. Results: 4.1. Placebo and pain; 4.2. Placebo and depression; 4.3. Findings
5. Perspective
6. Acknowledgements
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

The placebo effect has been extensively studied in many disease states, some of the most notable being pain and depression. Utilizing a Medline search, studies were identified that reported on areas of the brain shown to be involved in either placebo analgesia or mood response. This paper presents a distillation of this research, in an effort to identify a common "placebo pathway" between mood and pain. Placebo-related responses to both analgesia and relief from depression were reported to be associated with an increase in activity in the frontal cortex and a decrease in activity in the thalamus.