Expect the Best? Placebos Are for You!: Scientific American: "Individual expectations of rewards may explain why some people feel better after receiving fake drug treatments—a phenomenon known as 'the placebo effect.'
A new study using different brain imaging techniques linked the intensity of an individual's placebo effect to the amount of dopamine (a neurotransmitter involved in the pleasure and reward pathway) released in a midbrain region called the nucleus accumbens. Researchers at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor specifically demonstrated that those who were more responsive to phony pills were also more likely to expect to win big in a gambling game. "
