How Placebo Effects Work to Change Our Biology & Psychology

In this episode, I discuss placebo and belief and mindset effects — all of which exert a powerful and real influence on our biology and psychology. I discuss how your beliefs and expectation that a certain outcome will occur after taking a substance (or any intervention cause genuine changes in brain and bodily function. I discuss how placebos can change neurotransmitter and hormone release, pain levels, whether the stress response is beneficial or detrimental and more. I also explain how placebo effects can work with traditional drug or behavioral treatments to help improve health outcomes and why some people are more susceptible to placebo effects. By the end of the episode, listeners will understand the placebo effect, how it works, and how beliefs and mindsets can be leveraged toward mental health, physical health, and performance goals.

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Timestamps
00:00:00 Placebo Effects
00:02:40 Sponsors: Eight Sleep, AeroPress & Levels
00:07:24 Placebo, Nocebo vs. Belief Effect, Prefrontal Cortex
00:14:03 Dopamine, Placebo & Parkinson’s Disease; Placebo Controls
00:21:36 Hormone Release & Placebo Effect, Paired Associations
00:28:52 Conditioning Effect & Insulin; Pavlovian Response
00:32:50 Sponsor: AG1
00:34:17 Context & Expectations; Placebo Effect & Brain
00:40:51 Cancer, Mind-Body Practices; Placebo Effects & Limits
00:44:54 Asthma, Specificity & Placebo Effects
00:48:01 Sponsor: InsideTracker
00:49:03 Nicotine & Dose-Dependent Placebo Effects
00:55:31 Placebo Effects vs. Belief Effects, Food & Mindset
01:01:02 Exercise & Belief Effects
01:04:08 Placebo Effect, Brain & Stress Response
01:11:18 Individual Variation, Genetics & Placebo Effect
01:16:11 Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, YouTube Feedback, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

#HubermanLab #Science #Placebo

[jrodartec]

My mom grew up in a family with little to no money and shared the house with a lot of siblings. Her father would buy m&ms, separate them by color, put each color in a fancy jar, and label it properly with their respective "medical properties", such as "Painkillers" for red ones and "Sleep pills" for blue ones. I grew up listening my mom insist on how effective those "pills" were, and laughing at her. Now, decades later, Mr. Huberman teaches me on the effects of color, labels and beliefs on placebo, and I find myself thinking: "My grandpa was a true genius. Made medicine out of sugar, and healed his family despite having little to no money at all." - Thank you Andrew! You make me humbler every day.

[AdonisTheUltimateMan]

Hey Andrew Huberman. I am a 14 year old. I have been watching you since 2 years. Just wanted to say thank you for all the invaluable information you give for free. ❤

[narellehinds]

Hi Andrew
I was a heavy drinker and addicted to seroquel. Since watching your podcasts I haven't touched any in 3 months. Amazing don't even feel like it. A big Thank you to you my life is really changing. I can't thank you enough

[hugomarx]

Sorry for my English, I had severe Anhedonia after I quit my job. The job caused my mental breakdown and I had no other option but to resign. I couldn't sleep at night and it worsened my mental state. The ability to not fall asleep is like torture. You feel like screaming and going mad. It caused me to become paranoid and I thought I was becoming schizophrenic. I had no feeling or any emotions. It's like my soul died inside. No feeling, no pleasure. Only thing i felt was extreme agitation and that's when I decided to put on my running shoes and I ran 5km. It didn't really improve my mood but i consistently jogged every day and I gradually got my feeling back. I believe the sun exposure played a massive part in my healing. First thing every morning i went to the beach and swam in cold water. That brought me back to life. Why? Because it fixed my sleep. I believe the most important thing when depressed is to fix your sleep and daily sunlight, cold exposure, cardio exercises like running, hiking or breathing exercises does improve your sleep rapidly and that's the road to recovery right there. I highly recommend Wim Hof, David Goggins, Alan Watts and Dr Hubberman if you feel paranoid or depressed.

[balkibartokomous]

This video itself is a placebo that made me feel better about all the other placebos I know I do.

[nikkiorourke]

My sister in law has MS and has just had it confirmed that she has moved to the progressive form of the disease. It's so hard to see her feel so hopeless (and my brother). I have tried to research but as a lay person it is so difficult to know which is the trust worthy information. We are in the uk and although we are so lucky to have the NHS they can't offer or recommend the wide range of treatments that are available privately and around the world. it would be beyond amazing if you felt that an episode on this condition might be of interest to more of your audience.
I completely understand you must get inundated with requests, but I'm feeling a little useless too so thought it was worth a try.
Thank you

[mpt]

Andrew. Top 0.1% fan according to Spotify here!

Love your work. Regular listener since the beginning and have taken so much from your content.

Please do an episode on Alopecia, in particular Alopecia Areata. The link between the autoimmune disease & the gut microbiome in particular fascinates me and I’ve been trying for years now to alter gut microbiome to see if I can send mine into remission.

You thank us all for our interest in science, but I just want to thank you, for your interest in science, as without it, I speak for a lot of people in saying we’d be incredibly less informed if you hadn’t started your podcast.

I sincerely mean that. Keep it up!

[dameanvil]

00:28 💊 Placebo, nocebo, and belief effects influence biology and psychology independently of physical or chemical properties of treatments.
01:23 🧠 Neural circuits in the brain modulate biological functions such as heart rate and blood pressure in response to expectations.
02:33 🩺 Placebo, nocebo, and belief effects can be harnessed as unique treatments for various diseases alongside traditional approaches.
07:29 🔬 Placebo effects are distinct from nocebo effects and belief effects, each with unique impacts on symptoms and performance.
09:26 🧠 The prefrontal cortex plays a key role in placebo, nocebo, and belief effects by modulating neural circuits that control physiological functions.
13:49 🧪 Placebo, nocebo, and belief effects rely on information and experiences shaping expectations, leading to physiological changes in the brain and body.
19:52 💡 Expectation strength varies across individuals and impacts the magnitude of placebo effects, highlighting the importance of placebo controls in clinical trials.
20:06 🧠 The placebo effect measures the expectation of a drug's effects in a trial, illustrating the impact of belief on outcomes.
21:30 🩸 Placebo effects show high specificity based on what individuals believe about a treatment, even impacting hormone levels.
23:31 💉 A placebo injection, even of saline, can lead to hormone changes based on prior knowledge or expectation of treatment.
31:48 🛎 Classical conditioning demonstrates how unrelated stimuli, like a bell, can trigger physiological responses like insulin release.
34:36 💊 Expectations about treatment quality, packaging, and color significantly impact the placebo effect.
39:15 🏥 The placebo effect is stronger with more invasive or complex treatments, showing the brain's association of complexity with larger outcomes.
40:37 🩸 Expectations, not just psychological, have real biological effects through specific brain circuitry.
41:06 🩸 Placebo effects have limitations, such as in cancer treatment, where they alleviate symptoms but do not shrink or eliminate tumors.
45:00 🎩 Placebo effects, while powerful, are specific and cannot completely eliminate conditions like asthma or cancer.
49:09 💡 Belief systems significantly shape how drugs, supplements, and behavioral protocols affect physiology and brain function.
53:01 🧠 Placebo effects scale with the degree of expectation one has, influencing outcomes even with the same dosage of a substance.
57:01 🍔 Beliefs about the calorie content and indulgence of food impact hormonal responses, affecting feelings of satiety and hunger regulation.
01:01:02 🏋‍♂ Beliefs and mindsets can also impact exercise outcomes, suggesting a significant interplay between psychology and physiology.
01:02:39 🏥 Simply believing that daily activities, like work, mimic exercise can lead to improvements in health metrics such as blood pressure and body weight.
01:05:23 🧠 While thoughts from the prefrontal cortex may not directly impact muscle growth, they can affect basic bodily functions like stress response through neural pathways.
01:06:06 🐀 A study on rats demonstrates a pathway from the prefrontal cortex to the hypothalamus, controlling stress responses, which has implications for understanding psychosomatic effects in humans.
01:10:06 💡 The placebo effect, influenced by genetics like the CT Gene, varies among individuals, showing different levels of response to placebo conditions.
01:12:21 🧬 Genetic variations, such as the CT Gene, correlate with differences in placebo response, indicating a biological basis for individual susceptibility to the placebo effect.

[venomwi]

I am a 13yr old and l am exceptionally grateful for the value that you provide in these kinds of long form videos😊

[keithhoward]

This episode caused several segments of tear shedding from being enlightened, most pleasantly overwhelmed.

[kdoggdracul]

Oh, just finished the Alia Crum episode on belief effects! Perfect timing! ❤ Thank you for everything!

[austinkuipers]

Belief as a means to conduct ones own neurology into performing feats which used to be attributed to mass-parallelized imaginary friends is freakin awesome.

[SharingIdeology]

Who's up early to listen to the Huberman!? 🧠 Growth time baby

[moatasim]

Just last week I was thinking about requesting an episode on belief effects in the comments section and here we are ❤️

[marezapetrou]

I have so many life experiences to prove this belief! I have always said and believed our life Is the placebo. I
Have used this to achieve the impossible in diagnosis, health, and life on general. So grateful scientists are catching up to this and giving alchemy recognition.❤

[kristinawiese]

Incredible episode. Blown away by how our brains work! Now, I'm excited to share and discuss all these amazing facts with my kids. Thanks for such a great listen, you're the absolute BEST 🙏

[gribincealorelia]

I am 16 years old now & I'm deeply passionate about neuroscience and my dream is to become a neuroscientist one day. Thank you for showing me the beauty of this career❤Amazing episode, by the way:)I'm currently reading "You are the placebo" by Joe Dispenza right now

[jessicabailey]

Yay! I've been waiting for this topic, thanks 😊

[liBrns]

Thank you for all your content. Your work has motivated me to pursue my masters degree in neuroscience. I’ve always had a passion for learning the relationship between the brain and body, and didn’t understand what the field of that interest was termed as until I discovered this podcast. Thank you again Dr Hubberman. I appreciate you more than you know

[cathygamble]

Greetings! German teacher with MS here. I love your content, and I'm able to use so much of your teaching into professional development sessions for teachers. My last presentation integrated your research /analysis of neuroplasticity and mindset effects. Life-changing information for students and teachers alike, and I always direct my audience to you and Dr. Crum.

You mentioned you had never seen The Matrix. Um... You absolutely have to see this movie -- for a lot of reasons -- but its dive into mindset effects goes along with everything you've been saying. "The mind makes it real" is one of my favorite moments of the movie, and there are so many moments that speak to the power of the mind and of belief systems. It's worth a deep dive on its own. I promise.
💜