Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[JB3729]

Miss Australia, as always, thanks for sharing your family members status.

You're absolutely correct here -

That article is the biggest load of BS. How can you have a placebo affect with a memory test? Either you can recall or you can not.

If you read some of McFarlanes interviews he points out that the placebo affect does not apply to these tests.

Dr. Macfarlane answers this question in an interview -

4. Of all the battery of tests which do you think most powerful for AD, and how did Anavex 2-73 perform in that test?

The One-back test (which measures working memory, a key domain of impairment in AD) within the Cogstate battery is the most difficult test, yet showed the greatest improvement. This outcome is unlikely to have been an artefact of any placebo effect...when placebo effects occur they are typically larger for the easier tests. In addition, whilst placebo effects are common with CNS sedative drugs, they are less likely to be present in tests of drugs used to enhance cognition...individuals cannot anticipate, or 'imagine' what a better score would consist of, and are unable to produce improved results through mere 'wishful thinking.'
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3672856-anavex-life-sciences-interview-with-dr-stephen-macfarlane

bernardc reported what Dr. Missling stated at the D.C. conference -

-he also insisted that at 5 weeks 2 tests showed statistically significant improvement whereas the trial was not designed to measure them. And in those tests there is not a placebo effect like testing pain for ex.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=119023564