Placebo acupuncture as a form of ritual touch healing: a neurophenomenological model
C. Kerr, J. Shaw, L. Conboy, J. Kelley, E. Jacobson, Ted J Kaptchuk
Consciousness and Cognition March 11, 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.12.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 6 |
| Population | Patients in a randomized trial in irritable bowel syndrome |
| Key findings | In 5/6 cases, patients associated enhanced touch sensations like warmth and tingling with treatment efficacy, supporting an embodied healing mechanism. |
Abstract
Evidence that placebo acupuncture is an effective treatment for chronic pain presents a puzzle: how do placebo needles appearing to patients to penetrate the body, but instead sitting on the skin’s surface in the manner of a tactile stimulus, evoke a healing response? Previous accounts of ritual touch healing in which patients often described enhanced touch sensations (including warmth, tingling or flowing sensations) suggest an embodied healing mechanism. In this qualitative study, we asked a subset of patients in a randomized trial in irritable bowel syndrome to describe treatment experiences. Analysis focused on patients’ unprompted descriptions of any enhanced touch sensations (e.g., warmth, tingling) and any significance patients assigned to the sensations. We found in 5/6 cases, patients associated sensations including “warmth” and “tingling” with treatment efficacy. The conclusion offers a “neurophenomenological” account of the placebo effect by considering dynamic effects of attentional filtering on early sensory cortices, possibly underlying the phenomenology of placebo acupuncture.