ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, October 5, 2015
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RESEARCH
Study looks at placebo in treating depression Patients who respond to placebo more likely to see improvement with antidepressants EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
Five-year-old Logan Sweet, a patient at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, plays Xbox with his mother, Krystal Sweet, at the Family Center in Mott’s on Friday.
With new program, games provide therapy at C.S. Mott 225 hospital rooms now equipped with Xbox consoles for patient use By IRENE PARK Daily Staff Reporter
Scores of patients at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital will now have access to personal enter-
tainment systems in their rooms. On Friday, the hospital celebrated the launch of the Mott Family Network Pediatric Gaming Project, which aims to use Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to provide recreational and therapeutic experiences for patients. So far, 225 rooms are set up with the Xbox 360 consoles. The Mott Golf Classic and the Mott Family Network, two nonprofit organizations with the mission of advancing pediatric
medicine and improving patient and family care, funded a large portion of the project. The project’s initial budget was almost $500,000, but with donations from the two organizations, the project only cost about $100,000 of hospital funds. The project began as a smaller pilot program last year, with 32 Xbox consoles in the Hematology/Oncology unit at the hospital. Jean-Jacques Bouchard, a child life specialist, said Mott saw a
need to implement the gaming system hospital-wide to meet the recreational, educational and therapeutic needs of the hospital’s patients. Bouchard said the Xbox gaming system allows patients to be treated like normal kids because they can interact with their family and friends online — even when they are at the hospital. “People who are playing with the patients online have no idea See GAMES, Page 3A
By KATIE PENROD Daily Staff Reporter
A recent University study found that people with depression whose symptoms are decreased by placebo drugs are also more likely to respond when they are given real antidepressants. Those who don’t respond to the placebo are less likely to find relief with medication. The research team, led by JonKar Zubieta, a former University faculty member who is now chair of the psychiatry department chair at the University of Utah, has been studying the placebo effect for more than 10 years through brain scanning techniques. The study was conducted with 35 participants, all with untreated major depression. The participants were told they were being given a new drug to treat depres-
FOOTBALL
ENVIRONMENT
Michigan tops Maryland for fourth straight victory, 28-0 Defense dominant again in Big Ten opener, No. 13 Northwestern next By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
COLLEGE PARK — In the first four games, 36 minutes and 42 seconds of its season, the Michigan football team did not have what one might call a quick-strike offense. But in a span of three minutes, 11 seconds during the third quarter Saturday, the Wolverines pulled away from Maryland in their Big Ten opener en route to a 28-0 win at Byrd Stadium. Michigan gained possession for the 11th time with 8:18 to
go in the third quarter. At that point, the Wolverines led just 6-0 despite having dominated the Terrapins on the defensive side of the ball. That dominance had gifted the offense yet another opportunity, with junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis’ interception giving Michigan the ball at Maryland’s 31-yard line. Within 19 seconds, the Wolverines were in the end zone. After two incomplete passes, on 3rdand-10, fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock dumped off a screen to redshirt junior running back Drake Johnson, who picked up a block on the edge and took it in for a touchdown. “I think we just calmed down, just trusted the process,” said junior tight end Jake Butt. “There’s no panic on the sideline. It was just little things here and See MARYLAND, Page 3A
sion that researchers were looking to test. Psychiatry Prof. Marta Pecina, one of the study’s lead authors, said the study had two phases in which the patients were first given the placebo drugs, and then actually treated. Using Positron Emission Tomography, which is a brain scanning technique, the researchers were able to monitor the participant’s brain activity throughout the study to determine the reaction to the placebo and actual drug. Researchers saw the same changes in brain chemistry in patients who responded to the placebo pill as they saw in patients who actually took the antidepressant. Pecina said the patients responding to the placebo could essentially “generate their own medicine,” which could lead to alternative treatments in the future, though she acknowledged the study wasn’t necessarily representative of the whole population. “These people may in general have more resilience, and that’s a good point,” Pecina said. “CerSee PLACEBO, Page 3A
Rally calls on students to address climate challenges VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Detroit resident Ebony Elmore chaperones children from her neighborhood in River Rouge as they march down Michigan Avenue for Environmental Justice on Saturday.
March focuses on justice issues facing Detroiters Environmental equity cited as city’s key concern By WILL GREENBERG Daily News Editor
DETROIT — Marching from Roosevelt Park to Hart Plaza, several groups rallied together to support each other’s various
justice causes. The Detroit March for Justice, hosted by the National Sierra Club and a variety of social justice and environmental groups, drew Sierra Club executives from around the country Saturday, including club President Aaron Mair. Represented in the march were groups like the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Water is Life,
Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and others. Marchers carried signs calling for an end to fracking and water shutoffs. But many were there in defense of Detroit’s air, one of the pressing environmental issues in the area. One young boy wore a sandwich board the read: “Most polluted zip code: 48217.” “(We have) all the other See MARCH, Page 3A
Know Tomorrow event promotes individual and institutional action By CHARLOTTE JENKINS Daily Staff Reporter
In anticipation of the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to begin this November in Paris, University students gathered on the Diag on Friday to draw attention to climate change. The rally was sponsored by the University’s chapter of Know Tomorrow, a student-led campaign launched by Cool Globes, a national nonprofit organization working to raise awareness and spur action on climate change. See RALLY, Page 3A
Hurricane Harbaugh Michigan kept rolling with a rout of Maryland in College Park
» INSIDE WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 71 LO: 46
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 4 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS.........................5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . .1 B