Jon David Levine is an American neuroscientist known for his research on

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

and analgesia, particularly in the field of

placebo studies A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can aff ...

. He is a professor of Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

(UCSF).

Biography

Levine received his bachelor's degree in biophysics from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1966, a PhD in neuroscience from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1972, and an MD degree from UCSF in 1978. He subsequently trained under Jack Stobo and Henry Bourne. He joined the UCSF faculty in 1987, and has been a professor of Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Neuroscience there since 1993.

Research

Levine's research focuses on pain and analgesia, such as the mechanism of the placebo effect in relieving pain. In 1978, he published an influential study showing that

placebo analgesia Placebo analgesia occurs when the administration of placebos leads to pain relief. Because placebos by definition lack active ingredients, the effect of placebo analgesia is considered to result from the patient's belief that they are receiving a ...

could be blocked by the opioid antagonist

naloxone Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin within ...

. According to

Fabrizio Benedetti Fabrizio Benedetti is professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Turin Medical School in Turin, Italy and a researcher in the field of placebo studies. He is known for his research into the placebo and nocebo effects. Placebo ...

(one of Levine's students), this study represents the point when "the biology of placebo was born". He has also published research showing that kappa agonist painkillers are more effective for women than for men. He has also conducted studies on rats with experimentally induced

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

, showing that beta-2 antagonists can reduce joint damage in these rats. This work has also shown that these antagonists also block receptors on cells that allow

noradrenalin Norepinephrine (NE), also called noradrenaline (NA) or noradrenalin, is an organic chemical in the catecholamine family that functions in the brain and body as both a hormone and neurotransmitter. The name "noradrenaline" (from Latin '' ad'', ...

to enter them. In addition, he has researched the role of

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

in arthritis, which, he has found, can be either positive or negative.

References

External links

Faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Jon Placebo researchers Living people American neuroscientists Yale School of Medicine alumni University of California, San Francisco faculty University of Michigan alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni Year of birth missing (living people)