Researchers are unlocking the secrets of the Placebo Effect, which is the mechanism behind McFengshui.

The latest studies indicate the Placebo Effect has to do with how human brains are wired to anticipate benefits and to accept dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (involved in the ability to experience motivation, reward, feeding, and addiction).

The July 19, 2007, issue of the journal Neuron includes new revelations from a Univ. of Michigan team that revealed the Placebo Effect in 2005. The 2005 study showed that just thinking a placebo “medicine” will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers). The release of endorphins corresponds with a reduction in how much pain a person feels.

… our studies delve directly into the mechanisms that underlie the placebo effect.

— Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D
Senior author of the study, and Phil F. Jenkins Professor, Univ. of Michigan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry; member of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, Depression Center and Department of Radiology

The 2007 study combines information from two types of brain scan — PET (positron emission tomography), and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). The revelation from this latest study is

… dopamine activity is activated in response to a placebo in a manner that’s proportional to the amount of benefit that the individual anticipates.

— Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D.

The nucleus accumbens was active in the brains of study participants when were told how much money they could win or lose in a gambling game; as they waited for the round; and as they pressed the button and learned if they had succeeded in winning or avoiding losing money.

The researchers found that those who expected a placebo to help them and got greater benefit from it were also those who had the most activity in their nucleus accumbens during the anticipation of receiving a reward.

What does this mean for you?

If you expect to have major rewards by clearing clutter from your “money corner,” then you will be primed to find those rewards.

It’s part of the McFengshui belief system to anticipate a difference in the “energy” in a room after “clutter” has been “cleared.” However, you aren’t sensing a change in the “energy” — you are experiencing a surge in endorphins, and interpreting that as a positive change.

Your endorphin levels changed as you cleaned, partially because of the activity level, but mostly because you believe cleaning is followed by rewards. So anything positive that occurs you will attribute to “clearing the clutter,” although clutter had nothing to do with it.