• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Genes & Placebos

Genes & Placebos

December 25, 2008
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/081225_sciup_gene.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
A genetic sensitivity to placebos. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

For the first time, scientists have linked a specific gene variant to the placebo effect, at least in one situation. Psychologist Tomas Furmark, of the University of Uppsala in Sweden, says it started as a test of a new drug for social anxiety. Standard procedure requires giving some subjects a placebo, or sham drug, to see if the real one works. Furmark says 40 percent of the placebo group got better.

TOMAS FURMARK (Uppsala University, Sweden):
The clinical effect was as evident as it was in groups that were treated with active drugs. And about 60 percent of the subjects did not respond at all to the placebo.

HIRSHON:
The groups had different forms of a gene that controls a brain chemical called serotonin. But it’s not yet clear how serotonin affects the placebo response. I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the Science Society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Biology, Genetics & Evolution, Medicine & Health, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Previous Post:Cleanliness & Morality
Next Post:Podcast

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos