The strange science of placebos | David Linden

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_... Neuroscientist David Linden explores the hard biology behind mind-body medicine: why grief raises cancer risk, how a sugar pill triggers your brain's natural opioids, and why the placebo effect is getting stronger in America and nowhere else. The mechanisms that can kill you are the same ones that drug companies, implant designers, and neuroscientists are now racing to harness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About David Linden: David J. Linden is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His laboratory has worked for many years on the cellular substrates of memory storage in the brain and a few other topics. He has a longstanding interest in scientific communication and serves as the Chief Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his two children. David is the author of The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams and God and most recently, The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good.