Science that makes you itchy just thinking about it.

Mosquito bites. Woolen pants. Ants crawling under your clothes. Chicken pox. Dry skin. Feel it yet? This study set out to empirically test whether thinking about itching makes one feel more itchy. To test this "nocebo" effect -- similar to the placebo effect but resulting in a negative response -- the researchers trained participants to expect to feel more or less itchy by exposing them to higher or lower levels of electrode-induced itch while telling them about it, and showing them corresponding lights. The control patients either had the same experience but without the lights and verbal information, or were given the information, but the amount of itch received did not correspond to the information. The result? The participants with more information did feel itchier. And now, so do I. Thanks, science!Role of Conditioning and Verbal Suggestion in Placebo and Nocebo Effects on Itch "Placebo and nocebo effects are known ...