Brain Exercise or Placebo for Pain Relief? Try Both!

Scientists have known for a while that brain exercise (turning your mind to a challenging mental task) can reduce painful sensations. Likewise placebos can reduce the sensation of pain — just believing that the pain is being salved lessens the pain.

Neuroimaging studies have previously indicated that both brain exercise and placebos engage the same brain processes (executive attention and working memory). But now a new study shows that in fact the two methods don’t use the same brain processes and when applied together have an additive benefit.

Jason T. Buhle, Bradford L. Stevens, and Jonathan J. Friedman of Columbia University and Tor D. Wager of the University of Colorado Boulder gave participants a placebo, a difficult memory task, or both. For the two methods together “the level of pain reduction that people experienced added up. There was no interference between them,” says Buhle. “That suggests they rely on separate mechanisms.”

Why didn’t neuroimaging pick this up? “Neuroimaging is great,” says Buhle, “but because each brain region does many things, when you see activation in a particular area, you don’t know what cognitive process is driving it.”

Clinicians currently use both placebos and distraction as methods of non-drug pain relief, but have been uncertain if one might diminish the other’s efficacy. “This study shows you can use them together,” says Buhle, “and get the maximum bang for your buck without medications.”

 

 

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