Placebo and the Illusory Nature of Perception

The word placebo, from Latin “I shall please,” was defined in Quincy’s Lexicon-Medicum (1811) as “[any medicine] adapted more to please than to benefit the patient”. But as you probably know, pharmacologically inert “sugar pills” can do much more than just please — they can bring about very real physical benefits for patients suffering from a range of painful and debilitating conditions. This extraordinary phenomenon is both tangibly promising, in terms of disease management, and intellectually tantalizing. You gotta wonder: Are people really being cured? Do placebos work on children? How about people with cognitive impairments? Are hypnosis, acupuncture, and prayer related to the placebo effect? Are there certain conditions that are completely impervious to placebos? UCSF’s Dr. Howard Fields will answer our questions and share his expertise on the tremendously fascinating placebo (and nocebo) effect.