The neurobiology of placebo effects in sports: EEG frontal alpha asymmetry increases in response to a placebo ergogenic aid

Abstract

The performance enhancing (ergogenic) placebo effect is elicited by an inert treatment and caused by positive affective appraisal of effort perception. Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) is a neurobiological correlate of positive affect. This study investigates, whether receiving an ergogenic placebo increases FAA and whether scores on the behavioral inhibition and activation system (BIS/BAS) scales affect this increase in FAA. Nineteen competitive male cyclists (37.26 ± 9.82 years) performed two maximum effort time trials. The first served as baseline for the second intervention time trial, where athletes received a placebo ergogenic aid or no treatment. We recorded FAA using EEG throughout all time trials and assessed BIS/BAS by questionnaire. There was a significant difference in change from baseline to intervention time trial in FAA during cycling in response to the placebo ergogenic aid compared to the control group. BIS, the BAS subscale Drive and the BAS-BIS difference score significantly co-varied with the change in FAA from baseline to intervention time trial in response to the placebo ergogenic aid. Administering a placebo ergogenic aid significantly influenced FAA during maximum effort cycling. Those athletes with a more pronounced goal seeking persistence and an overall dominance of the BAS over the BIS showed a significantly greater increase in FAA in response to a placebo ergogenic aid. A more pronounced BIS, however, seems to antagonize the increase in FAA associated with the ergogenic placebo response.