Mind

Can someone be given a drug, then later on be given a fake drug unknowingly, but have this liquid smell and taste like the actual drug, and still get the effects from the actual drug?

Are placebo effects present in animal studies?

[Mercutio]

From an introductory text in experimental analysis of behavior

"Other studies have shown that classical conditioning can be used to strengthen immune system functioning. For example, one team of researchers gave human subjects a taste of sweet sherbet followed by shots of adrenaline. Adrenaline tends to increase the activity of natural killer cells, which are an important component of the body's immune system. After pairing the sweet sherbet with the adrenaline, the sweet sherbet itself elicited an increase in natural killer cell activity."

The book, Powell, Symbaluk & MacDonald, 2002; the paper cited, Buske-Kirschbaum, Kirschbaum, Stierle, Jabaij, & Hellhammer, 1994. I just include the citation because I like their names.

So, the answer appears to be "yes", assuming the smell and taste of the drug are salient enough cues for adequate conditioning.

[spoonhandler]

Placebo effect has been shown in animals. The effect is a result of conditioning - the animal associates side effects with something related to treatment (being injected, also tasting something sweet, etc) and in later tests, exhibits the same side effects when stimulated in the same way (injection of saline or tasting the sweet food again without any active drug being used).

Example: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11997148&dopt=Abstract

In humans, the conditioning stage could be said to be the part where you are told the treatment will be good for you/cure your illness/erase your wrinkles or whatever. Previous experiences can also colour how someone reacts to a treatment.

[ChuckieR]

Originally posted by Whodini
Can someone be given a drug, then later on be given a fake drug unknowingly, but have this liquid smell and taste like the actual drug, and still get the effects from the actual drug?
I'd have to say it depends on what the "effects" of the actual drug are. If you have a serious bacterial infection, then giving you something that looks, smells, and tastes like an antibiotic will not help you.

On the other hand, if the effects of the drug are measured by subject self-assessment and are not otherwise knowable, then that opens the possibility for placebo.

Wasn't there a paper a short time ago about the placebo effect not existing in cases where a) there is a quantifiable, non-qualitative (i.e., not "subject reported") effect in question and b) there is a proper baseline "no treatment" (i.e., no drug AND no placebo) control group to compare to?