MECHANISMS OF PLACEBO PAIN REDUCTION - AN EMPIRICAL-INVESTIGATION

Identical experimental pain stimuli were applied to the light ann left index fingers of 56 university students, following the application of a placebo in the guise of a topical anesthetic to one of the fingers. The pain stimuli were administered simultaneously to treated and untr eated fingers for half of the subjects and sequentially for the others . Significant and equivalent reductions in pain were reported in both conditions as a function of placebo administration. These data indicat e that reductions of experimental pain produced by placebos presented in the guise of local anesthetics are not mediated by such global mech anisms as anxiety reduction or the release of endogenous opioids.