(Press-News.org) MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – A study out of Michigan State University found that nondeceptive placebos, or placebos given with people fully knowing they are placebos, effectively manage stress — even when the placebos are administered remotely.
Researchers recruited participants experiencing prolonged stress from the COVID-19 pandemic for a two-week randomized controlled trial. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to a nondeceptive placebo group and the other half to the control group that took no pills. The participants interacted with a researcher online through four virtual sessions on Zoom. Those in the nondeceptive placebo group received information on the placebo effect and were sent placebo pills in the mail along with and instructions on taking the pills.
The study, published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, found that the nondeceptive group showed a significant decrease in stress, anxiety and depression in just two weeks compared to the no-treatment control group. Participants also reported that the nondeceptive placebos were easy to use, not burdensome and appropriate for the situation.
“Exposure to long-term stress can impair a person’s ability to manage emotions and cause significant mental health problems long-term, so we’re excited to see that an intervention that takes minimal effort can still lead to significant benefits,” said Jason Moser, co-author of the study and professor in MSU’s Department of Psychology. “This minimal burden makes nondeceptive placebos an attractive intervention for those with significant stress, anxiety and depression.”
The researchers are particularly hopeful in the ability to remotely administer the nondeceptive placebos by health care providers.
“This ability to administer nondeceptive placebos remotely increases scalability potential dramatically,” said Darwin Guevarra, co-author of the study and postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco, “Remotely administered nondeceptive placebos have the potential to help individuals struggling with mental health concerns who otherwise would not have access to traditional mental health services.”
By Shelly DeJong
Read on MSUToday.
###
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 165 years. One of the world’s leading public research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 400 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
For MSU news on the web, go to MSUToday or x.com/MSUnews.
END
MSU study finds placebos reduce stress, anxiety, depression — even when people know they are placebos
2024-08-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
MSU discovers method for CRISPR-based genome editing in Nile grass rats
2024-08-23
EAST LANSING, Mich. – A team of researchers at Michigan State University has discovered a set of methods that enabled the first successful CRISPR-based genome editing in Nile grass rats.
The study, published in BMC Biology, is the first to successfully edit genomes in Nile grass rats. As diurnal rodents, Nile grass rats have similar sleep/awake patterns to humans which could be advantageous in preclinical or translational research.
Currently, preclinical research relies heavily on laboratory mice, which are nocturnal rodents who are active at night and sleep during the day. With these different sleep patterns, diurnal and nocturnal ...
UVA engineering professors target inclusive AI education with $1 million grant
2024-08-23
Underserved high school students often lack access to artificial intelligence education that could prepare them for future careers in technology. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science and Clemson University are hoping to change that.
To help bridge the educational divide, the research team received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to democratize access to AI education. Future fair and equitable technologies depend on a robust AI education, and expanding access to that education is crucial.
The project is part of the NSF’s Experiential Learning for ...
Kids now see fewer TV ads for unhealthy food and drinks, but exposure remains high
2024-08-23
Children’s exposure to food and drink ads during kids’ TV shows has dropped substantially since food and beverage makers pledged to stop advertising unhealthy fare during children’s TV shows. Yet, according to research from the University of Illinois Chicago, children under 12 still see more than 1,000 food-related ads a year, most of them for unhealthy products.
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, researchers analyzed television ratings and advertising data from 2013 through 2022. The study authors found that a dramatic decline in food and drink advertisements during kids’ shows did not ...
Good sleep habits important for overweight adults, OHSU study suggests
2024-08-23
New research from Oregon Health & Science University reveals negative health consequences for people who are overweight and ignore their body’s signals to sleep at night, with specific differences between men and women.
The study published this week in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
“This study builds support for the importance of good sleep habits,” said lead author Brooke Shafer, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Sleep, Chronobiology and Health Laboratory in the OHSU School of Nursing. “Sleep practices, like going to bed when you’re tired or setting aside your screen at ...
Pendulum Therapeutics and BiomeSense launch pioneering study on gut microbiome using continuous sampling technology
2024-08-23
San Francisco, CA (August 12, 2024) – Pendulum Therapeutics, in collaboration with BiomeSense, announces the launch of an innovative new pilot study entitled "Detection of Akkermansia muciniphila Utilizing Serial Longitudinal Samples with the BiomeSense GutLab™: An Open-Label Proof of Concept Study." Pendulum Therapeutics and BiomeSense are two biotech companies at the forefront of microbiome science. Their groundbreaking research aims to advance the scientific understanding of the human microbiome by focusing on continuous detection of Akkermansia muciniphila, a keystone strain in the gut microbiome, using a new data generation technology.
About ...
Unconventional interface superconductor could benefit quantum computing
2024-08-23
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A multi-institutional team of scientists in the United States, led by physicist Peng Wei at the University of California, Riverside, has developed a new superconductor material that could potentially be used in quantum computing and be a candidate “topological superconductor.”
Topology is the mathematics of shape. A topological superconductor uses a delocalized state of an electron or hole (a hole behaves like an electron with positive charge) to carry quantum information and process data in a robust manner.
The researchers report today in Science Advances that they combined trigonal tellurium ...
NASA’s DART impact permanently changed the shape and orbit of asteroid moon
2024-08-23
When NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided with an asteroid moon called Dimorphos in 2022, the moon was significantly deformed—creating a large crater and reshaping it so dramatically that the moon derailed from its original evolutionary progression—according to a new study. The study’s researchers believe that Dimorphos may start to “tumble” chaotically in its attempts to move back into gravitational equilibrium with its parent asteroid named Didymos.
“For ...
Multiple sclerosis appears to protect against Alzheimer’s disease
2024-08-23
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are far less likely than those without the condition to have the molecular hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The discovery suggests a new avenue of research through which to seek Alzheimer’s treatments, said Matthew Brier, MD PhD, an assistant professor of neurology and of radiology and the study’s first author.
“Our findings imply that some component of the biology of multiple sclerosis, ...
DRI’s AWE+ Summit tackles wildfire resilience and recovery
2024-08-23
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — DRI, one of our nation’s leading applied environmental research institutes, together with the DRI Foundation, this week held its inaugural AWE+ Summit -Wildfire Recovery and Resilience: Working Across Silos to Drive Solutions. The summit is a call-to-action for communities to implement measures that support resilience and human adaptability to devastating wildfire events.
Nationally recognized scientific leaders discussed challenges, progress, and hope through actions that will lead to solutions. Speakers included:
President of the National Academy of ...
NIH grant establishes UAB’s Global Research Resource for Human Tuberculosis
2024-08-23
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A $5.8 million grant led by Adrie Steyn, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Africa Health Research Institute, or AHRI, in Durban, South Africa, will provide user-requested infected human lung tissue and analytical services to tuberculosis researchers worldwide.
Tuberculosis, or TB, is a bacterial infection that causes 1.3 million deaths and 10.6 million new active cases each year, yet experimental animal models of TB do not reproduce the full spectrum of disease as it occurs in humans. A paucity of human lung tissue ...