Huh, your extensive research doesn't square with much of what I learned as a neuroscience undergrad. We read a few papers that demonstrated non-trivial physiolo

Huh, your extensive research doesn't square with much of what I learned as a neuroscience undergrad. We read a few papers that demonstrated non-trivial physiological responses due to 'sham' treatments. In particular, placebo treatments have a well established impact on pain by causing release of endogenous opioids (see http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~larry/CLASS/NOTHING/READINGS/Opiods.pdf http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~larry/CLASS/NOTHING/READINGS/... and http://pharmacology.ucsd.edu/graduate/courseinfo/placebarticle.pdf http://pharmacology.ucsd.edu/graduate/courseinfo/placebartic...). More generally, it would be shocking if beliefs and perceptions didn't have (both beneficial and harmful) medical effects. Mental states have physical consequences. For example, stressful thoughts cause measurable differences in levels of various hormones and neurotransmitters. Over time, particular patterns of thinking can even cause changes in the morphology of the brain. The strong assertion of a mind/body split seems simplistic and outdated, there's simply too much evidence of a complex entangled relationship between the two.