Nir Eyal “Why These £39 Placebo Pills Actually Work”
Nudge
Hypnosedation and self-directed relief
Nir shares a case of hypnosedation where belief alone sustained a painful surgical procedure without drugs.
There's a pill on Amazon called Fukitol.
It contains nothing. And yet people buy it, swear by it, and give it five stars.
Today, Nir Eyal explains the remarkable science behind why placebos work.
---
Listen to the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/40414a1b44
Nir’s book Beyond Belief: geni.us/beyondbelief
Nir’s free belief change guide: nirandfar.com/belief-change
Join 11,934 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list
Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/
---
Today’s sources:
Ariel, G., & Saville, W. (1972). Anabolic steroids: The physiological effects of placebos. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 4(2), 124–126.
Branthwaite, A., & Cooper, P. (1981). Analgesic effects of branding in treatment of headaches. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 282(6276), 1576–1578.
Dawkins, L., Shahzad, F. Z., Ahmed, S. S., & Edmonds, C. J. (2011). Expectation of having consumed caffeine can improve performance and mood. Appetite, 57(3), 597–600.
Draganich, C., & Erdal, K. (2014). Placebo sleep affects cognitive functioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(3), 857–864.
Kaptchuk, T. J. (2018). Open-label placebo: Reflections on a research agenda. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 61(3), 311–334.
Lee, C., Linkenauger, S. A., Bakdash, J. Z., Joy-Gaba, J. A., & Profitt, D. R. (2011). Putting like a pro: The role of positive contagion in golf performance and perception. PLoS One, 6(10), e26016.
Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(3), 1050–1054.
Richter, C. P. (1957). On the phenomenon of sudden death in animals and man. Psychosomatic Medicine, 19(3), 191–198.
Rozenkrantz, L., Mayo, A. E., Ilan, T., Hart, Y., Noy, L., & Alon, U. (2017). Placebo can enhance creativity. PLoS One, 12, e0182466.
Wager, T. D., Rilling, J. K., Smith, E. E., Sokolik, A., Casey, K. L., Davidson, R. J., et al. (2004). Placebo-induced changes in fMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain. Science, 303(5661), 1162–1167.
The AI-powered Podcast Player
