Re: differential mechanism

My prediction is that naltrexone increases the effectiveness of EMDR. This is consistent with some preliminary findings.

A placebo effect cannot be ruled out entirely without an adequate control group. However, naltrexone appears to inhibit one type of placebo effect, that is expectancy, the latter being apparently mediated by endogenous opiates.

Generally, it appears that some types of learning are mediated by endogenous opiates, such as reward learning. On the other hand, excessive release of opiates appears to interfere with neuroplasticity, a phenomenon that can also be considered to be a form of learning.

Replies:

Re: differential mechanism, by Cahill, 11/07/01

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