Thanks for another’s great episode. I have two comments/questions:
1. Are you familiar with the psychologist Irving Kirsch? He wrote a book about the placebo effect a decade ago titled, The Emperor’s New Drugs. In his book, he argues that antidepressant medications were no better than placebo. I remember he notes in his book that the placebo effect is so powerful that it induced skin rashes in participants of one study.
2. In the podcast, both of you expressed skepticism when describing studies that relied on brain scans/FMRIs. I was curious as to what this was about.
Episode 9: The placebo effect
Thanks for another’s great episode. I have two comments/questions:
1. Are you familiar with the psychologist Irving Kirsch? He wrote a book about the placebo effect a decade ago titled, The Emperor’s New Drugs. In his book, he argues that antidepressant medications were no better than placebo. I remember he notes in his book that the placebo effect is so powerful that it induced skin rashes in participants of one study.
2. In the podcast, both of you expressed skepticism when describing studies that relied on brain scans/FMRIs. I was curious as to what this was about.