Placebo can trick brain into taking it for real

A new study has found that a placebo looking alike an actual anti-depressant, can 'trick' the brain into acting in the same ways as it responds to the real medicine.

The study conducted at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) reveals that the brain may be influenced by its memory of past exposure to such drugs.

Aimee Hunter, assistant professor of psychiatry at the UCLA and colleagues conducted this study on the brains of 89 depressed persons during eight weeks of treatment by using either an anti-depressant, its look alike placebo, the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology reports says.

Persons suffering from major depression receive multiple therapies with anti-depressants, says an UCLA statement.

This is because the disorder can persist despite treatment and because finding the right medicine for specific individual can be time taking.

--with inputs from IANS