Question: What is the most craziest experiment you have done

David McGonigle answered on 26 Mar 2021:

Wow…well, I’ve done a few that may seem ‘crazy’, rays! I once collaborated with a gastroenterologist (someone studying the gut and digestion) to see where the feelings from the stomach go in the brain when they are transmitted. We know there’s a ‘map’ of the body’s outside, but no-one was certain where the ‘inside’ was. So we had to scan their brains while they had a big tube stuck down their throat that inflated like a balloon…they got paid well, don’t worry! During my PhD I also tried to do a placebo pain experiment to see if we could actually create a new placebo – so we got participants to rate the pain of a hot probe on their skin, and then applied a totally inert moisturising cream and said that it was a pain-relieving cream! Then, we actually turned the pain level on the probe down, and so the participants felt that there was less pain…and hopefully began to ‘believe’ in the cream. Sadly I didn’t finish this one – but it was a blast to do! Have a nice easter, dave