Expectation and Dopamine Release: Mechanism of the Placebo Effect in Parkinson's Disease

The power of placebos has long been recognized for improving numerous medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Little is known, however, about the mechanism underlying the placebo effect. Using the ability of endogenous dopamine to compete for [11C]raclopride binding as measured by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-08, Vol.293 (5532), p.1164-1166
Main Authors: de la Fuente-Fernández, Raúl, Ruth, Thomas J., Sossi, Vesna, Schulzer, Michael, Calne, Donald B., Stoessl, A. Jon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Antiparkinson Agents - administration & dosage
Antiparkinson Agents - therapeutic use
Apomorphine - administration & dosage
Apomorphine - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Caudate nucleus
Clinical trials
Corpus Striatum - diagnostic imaging
Corpus Striatum - metabolism
Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases
Dopamine - metabolism
Dosage
Expectation
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Medical treatment
Middle Aged
Narcotics
Neurology
Neurotransmitters
Parkinson disease
Parkinson Disease - drug therapy
Parkinson Disease - metabolism
Parkinson's disease
Patients
PET scanners
Placebo Effect
Placebos
Placebos - administration & dosage
Positron emission tomography
Putamen
Raclopride - metabolism
Synapses - metabolism
Tomography, Emission-Computed
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Summary:The power of placebos has long been recognized for improving numerous medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Little is known, however, about the mechanism underlying the placebo effect. Using the ability of endogenous dopamine to compete for [11C]raclopride binding as measured by positron emission tomography, we provide in vivo evidence for substantial release of endogenous dopamine in the striatum of PD patients in response to placebo. Our findings indicate that the placebo effect in PD is powerful and is mediated through activation of the damaged nigrostriatal dopamine system.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1060937