Placebo effects are improvements in signs and symptoms caused by the context in which a treatment is delivered.  They are a natural part of the way our brains work; their mechanisms include learning and neuroplasticity, emotion, social cognition,  and expectations and other future-oriented cognition. Understanding the neurophysiology of placebo can help shed light on the mechanisms underlying both other "mind-body" interventions and commonly used drugs. In this talk, I present an emerging picture of the brain systems-level interactions that give rise to placebo effects. I focus in particular on interactions between the prefrontal cortex, motivational systems in the forebrain, and evolutionarily ancient brainstem systems that govern emotion and physiology. Examining these systems suggests that not all placebo effects are created equal.  Some have deeper effects on brain processes than others, and it is becoming increasingly possible to understand what makes some types of placebo effects physiologically "powerful" and others not.  In addition, some placebo effects die out over time, as expectations fail to be corroborated by external events — but others self-perpetuate, becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. The emerging understanding of how placebo effects work, and how beliefs can decouple from objective events become self-reinforcing influences on our minds and bodies, provide new clues about how, and why, to manage beliefs in clinical practice and daily life.

Dr. Wager is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and a faculty member in the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  He received his PhD from the University of Michigan in cognitive psychology in 2003, and served as an Assistant and Associate Professor at Columbia University from 2004-2009.  Since 2010, he has directed Boulder's Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience laboratory.  He has a deep interest in how thinking influences affective experience, affective learning, and brain-body communication.  His laboratory also focuses on the development and deployment of analytic methods, and has developed several publically available software toolboxes for fMRI analysis.

Reception to follow in 4125 Sennott Square.