Studies and experiments have shown that for parkinsonian patients who have been, unknowingly, treated by placebo treatments, there is significant dopamine release when the declared probability of improvement is 75% or above. However, for those in the trial who were told they only received 25% to 50% of the medication, or were not verbally encouraged, the rate of improvement and dopamine release plateaued or decreased slightly. Verbal manipulation was used as the bulk of the treatment, with inert drugs and cues also being administered. Reflecting on her findings, specialist psychiatrist Lidstone (2010) said “placebos have been shown to activate reward circuitry, including stimulation of dopamine release in the ventral striatum… These results indicate that the expectation of therapeutic benefit in [Parkinson’s Disease] patients can directly modulate dopamine release.” This agrees with Benedetti (2009) who found that “dopamine activation was better related to the expectations of reward.” From these collective results, we can see that the more positive undertones and anticipations are conveyed to the patient, the more powerful the outcome is, and so more dopamine is released, hence the intensity and velocity of the formation of neural pathways is high as a result. Nickerson (1998) said, when writing of the effects of expectation on confirmation bias “expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies.” By this, he meant that what you expect will become or willingly present itself to you, whether it’s meant to or not. Therefore, one can deduce that the more you anticipate something, the more intensely the emotions associated will overcome you, so the expectation will present itself more forcefully and easily. Research conducted by Nickerson et al, has shown that in schools, teachers’ expectations of students’ performance model the hypothesis well. In both cases, it can be seen that there is a strong link between expectation and intensity, which correlate with each other. Optimism>