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A placebo can improve brain activity in Parkinson's patients just as effectively as medication can, a new study shows.

A team of researchers from Columbia University and University of Colorado Boulder used MRI to scan brains of 18 Parkinson's patients as they played a computer game which measured reward learning, the brain's ability to decide to pursue rewarding actions. Reward learning in patients with Parkinson's is impaired owing to death of neurons that release dopamine, the chemical associated with positive outcomes. Hence, Parkinson's disease is treated with drugs that increase dopamine levels in the brain.

Researchers had patients play the computer game thrice. The first time, the game was played without patients taking their medication. The second time, patients were given medication mixed in orange juice.

The third time, researchers simply gave participants orange juice but patients believed it contained their medication.

Through MRI scans, researchers saw that participants' striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex areas in the brain, associated with reward learning, were equally active during second and third attempts of game play; with medication and placebo.

This led researchers to conclude that expectation of medication or treatment can improve reward learning in Parkinson's patients by activating brain's dopamine rich areas.

"The findings highlight the power of expectations to drive changes in the brain. The research highlights important links between psychology and medicine." said Tor Wager co-author of the study, in a press release.

He added, "This finding demonstrates a link between brain dopamine, expectation and learning. Recognizing that expectation and positive emotions matter has the potential to improve the quality of life for Parkinson's patients and may also offer clues to how placebos may be effective in treating other types of diseases."

The findings of the study have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.