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Science 7 June 1974:
Vol. 184. no. 4141, pp. 1096 - 1098
DOI: 10.1126/science.184.4141.1096
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Articles

Acupunctural Analgesia? Evaluation by Signal Detection Theory

W. Crawford Clark 1 and J. C. Yang 2

1 Department of Research Psychology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York 10032
2 Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 10032

Pain responses to noxious thermal stimulation decreased in the acupunctured arm of subjects as compared to the arm not treated with acupuncture; this result suggested that effective analgesia had been induced. However, sensory decision theory analysis of the data revealed no difference in discriminability. This failure to find a sensory (physiological) change strongly suggests that analgesia had not been induced. The sole effect of acupuncture was to cause the subjects to raise their pain criterion in response to the expectation that acture works.


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Acupuncture for Chronic Shoulder Pain: An Experimental Study with Attention to the Role of Placebo and Hypnotic Susceptibility.
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