1. EachPod

Mapping the brain using the placebo effect

Author
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Published
Fri 05 Sep 2025
Episode Link
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/healthreport/pain-dementia-immune-mental-health/105688574

Researchers have tricked participants with placebo pain relief in an effort to map the brainstem. 

Also, how immunotherapy might be used to treat mental health conditions in some young people. 

And delays in diagnosing frontotemporal dementia means some people are missing out on important care. 

References
Answering common questions about GLP-1s for weight loss
GLP-1s and eating disorders — what are the risks?
A Case Series of Young People Receiving Adjunctive Immunotherapy for Neuroimmune-Mediated Major Mood or Psychotic Syndromes
Fourteen years later: Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia
Somatotopic organization of brainstem analgesic circuitry
A radical new way to treat low back pain - ABC listen

You can listen to more episodes of the Health Report podcast with presenters Dr Norman Swan and Dr Preeya Alexander on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Covering topics like Trump’s policy changes to the growing trend of young people being diagnosed with cancer, we bring you the latest in health and medical news.

Share to: