Subliminal Placebo: You Didn't See It, but It's Working

Inkfish
By Elizabeth Preston
Sep 11, 2012 4:01 AMNov 5, 2019 12:20 AM

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The latest additions to the placebo effect family might be the rudest. First there was placebo, which uses your body's own tools to make you feel better after you try a treatment you imagine will help you. Then there was nocebo, placebo's evil twin: it makes you feel worse only because you think you will. Now researchers have discovered that placebo and nocebo effects can be triggered subliminally, which is like finding out that the good and evil twins have both been living in your basement without you knowing it.

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