Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hey,
So I've always been interested in the human mind, and I was fascinated by the idea of placebos. I was so excited to do a science project on it, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to give drugs to any test subjects. I have a few more ideas in mind, but I need some more good ideas relating to placebos without using pills. I have tons of time at the moment, so I'm really looking forward to doing a good project. Thanks!

Hi,

The placebo effect is definitely real but no one knows exactly how it works. Are you able to use your friends as test subjects? If so I would suggest using an external placebo in the form of a ‘magnetic’ headband that is supposed to enhance brain activity. The headband won’t really have magnets in it but it will look like it does and you will tell your volunteers that it does. They will do online tests of memory, mental speed and flexibility like the brain games in Lumosity with and without the headband and record their scores. If they believe the headband enhances the brain maybe it will work as a placebo.

Let us know what you think of this idea. Maybe other experts can come up with other placebos that do not involve drugs.

Good luck!

Sybee

(This is the same account as maestrodude123)

Thanks so much Sybee! I actually haven't found something like the experiment you described online, so I will probably use it.
The only thing I might change is the tests my subjects undergo. Online tests may be more difficult to figure out, and I think I can have a better experiment if I do something like brain tests on paper. Also, I'm not completely sure if it will be as believable as I want it to, however, because I'll have to design a magnetic headband myself. The most important part to get the most accurate results is to make it believable, because if the subjects don't believe it, they'll act differently. I was thinking I could tell them I'm testing something about magnets on the brain to make it more believable. Do you have any other suggestions to make it more believable?

Thanks, and I'll let you know if I have any more questions. Really appreciate it!

You're welcome! Glad you liked my idea. Actually there have been some scientific tests of this technique. It's called transcranial magnetic stimulation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcrani ... timulation

The medical TMS uses a strong electromagnet to create magnetic pulses kind of like MRI. A fixed metal magnet would probably not be strong enough to cause any immediate effect but I wonder what would happen if a person wore a magnetic headband for a week or longer.

I just made up the part about improving mental ability. I don't know of any evidence for this.

You don't have to use electronic games to test cognitive ability as long as you can get an accurate score to be able to compare with and without the headband. I like Lumosity because it has many different types of test for different things like memory, speed, flexibility, task-shifting, etc. and you get a quantitative score and often a response time. A person's score will usually improve the more times they play a game, so you have to be careful how you set up the tests. If you have friends who have taken psychology or behavioral courses you might ask them about how to set up a placebo test.

I really don't know the best way to present this so that your volunteers believe you. Hopefully other experts can give their opinion here. You could talk about the results with TMS and just say that you are testing gentle magnetic stimulation of the problem-solving part of the brain. You'll have to do some research to find out which part of the brain would be most likely to be used in your mental tests and tell them you are putting the magnet over that part of their head. They also have to be convinced that the headband will cause no discomfort or side effects. You know it won't because it is a placebo, but they have to believe that it is perfectly harmless. Your hypothesis will be that believing magnetic stimulation improves mental ability results in improved scores on brain games, so your volunteers have to at least believe that it is possible.

If there are other experts who are more familiar with this sort of testing, hopefully they can give you some more specific advice. Also, be sure to tell your teacher about your planned project and make sure you can do this without having to go through the laborious process of institutional review and consent forms.

Good luck!

Sybee

Okay, Sybee, so I'm designing my procedures right now. I think I'll change my placebo to pressure on the head or something rather than magnetic currents, because of the difficulty of creating a "magnetic headband" .

I'm thinking of still using Lumosity, although it might be difficult because of the format of it. I tried out a fit test just now, and here's what I think:

I can create 20 accounts beforehand, and have my 10 subjects play the fit tests without the band, and record their scores. Then, the next day I can have them do the same tests with the band on, and record their scores, telling them the band will increase brain power through pressure put on the head. Do you think that will be sufficient to test my hypothesis? The only reason I need to make so many accounts is it's different, like you said, when you play more and more, and you need to pay after you finish the test to continue. Will there be any flaws in my experiment, and have you thought of any other better ways to test the placebo effect? Or, is there anything you would personally change if you were doing the experiment?

Thanks for everything!
maestrodude1234

Well, I realize now that I would need to use 20 emails...I might be able to use my subject's email, if needed, or I can do it with 5 subjects instead of 10.

My data table will look something like this:

Subject #x
Game..............Score without band.........Score with band

Speed Game..................x..............................y
Accuracy Game............. x..............................y
Memory Game...............x..............................y

Tell me what you think.
By the way, I really appreciate all this advice you've given me, better than my teachers could give me any day!

Thanks for the positive feedback! We do like to know that our efforts really help.

You had asked me in a previous post about a plausible and persuasive 'placebo' and i still think the magnetic headband is the best choice. Most people have heard about the use of electricity or magnetism to affect the brain so they will believe that the magnets may be effective. You don't actually have to put magnets inside the headband. Just buy as many elastic sweatbands as you have subjects (you can assure them that the bands are clean and no one else has worn them). Carefully cut them open so that you can slip a metal plate of some sort inside to give it weight in one spot. Go to the hardware store and get some rectangular metal mending plates to use as the 'magnets'. Tape a couple of these together and insert them inside the sweatband. Stitch the cut edges back together--yes, with a needle and thread! That could take a long time so you might want to figure out an alternative--like my favorite--duct tape!

I would also suggest telling the subjects to put the headband on about 30-60 minutes before doing the test so that the ‘magnet’ has time to 'activate' the cognitive neurons. I think this will strengthen the placebo effect and it will also make them have to wait after doing the tests without the headband before they do them with the headband. This may help to reduce the improvement-with-repetition effect. You also have to assure them that the magnetism will not cause any harm to their brains. You can say that if anything it will make them smarter!

Ten subjects should be enough to get a statistical sample. Getting volunteers can be one of the hardest part of human testing.

How many times were you going to ask the subjects to do the tests? I'm concerned about the fact that the more you do a Lumosity game the better you get at it. Some of the games are pretty hard until you get used to how they work. I have found that it is a lot easier to use a laptop or tablet with a touchpad than a computer with a mouse. There is also an app for smart phones so they can play some of the games that way if they want to.

Good luck working out the details! We’re here to give our expert assistance whenever you get stuck.

Sybee

Thanks, I'll incorporate those ideas into my experiment.

I just told my science teacher about my experiment, and she asked me what my variables were:

My responding variable was the score on the test, I knew that, but I realized that I didn't know exactly what my manipulated variable is. Would that be the headband? The only thing that I was unsure of is that to test the placebo effect, when you give the placebo only have of your subjects get it, so you can test whether the placebo worked or not (if the people with the placebo got a higher increase of scores than the ones without it, then the placebo worked, but if they got around the same scores, then it didn't). And controls would be the time when they do the experiment, the program they use, etc, right? What else?

Hi,

The way I envisioned the experiment was that each subject would act as their own control. All of the subjects would do the Lumosity tests first without the headband then some time later WITH the headband. Since we know that the headband can’t possibly work, if their scores improve then it has to be because they believe that it works—a placebo effect.

Your experiment is different from drug testing where the trial is done with an actual drug vs a ‘sugar pill’. In those kinds of trials it is true that half of the subjects get placebo and half get the test drug. But in your case there is no actual working headband to test a placebo against. You have to compare test scores without the headband to test scores with—that’s your independent variable.

Please let us know how your experiments come out.

Good luck,

Sybee