---
title: 'Touch - Mind Field (Episode 6)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=OUdXMoY6fLY'
video_id: 'OUdXMoY6fLY'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1296
---

# Touch - Mind Field (Episode 6)

> Source: [Touch - Mind Field (Episode 6)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=OUdXMoY6fLY)

## Summary

This episode of Mind Field explores the complex science of touch and pain, including optical illusions like the thermal grill, the nocebo effect where expectation creates real pain, and the case of a man who cannot feel pain at all.

### Key Points

- **Thermal Grill Illusion** [00:21] — Combining warm and cold hot dog halves creates a burning sensation without actual damage, tricking the brain's temperature sensors.
- **Sympathy and Phantom Pain** [02:52] — Pain can be sparked by seeing others hurt (sympathy pain) or felt in amputated limbs (phantom pain).
- **Nocebo Effect Experiment** [04:13] — A fake bone density scanner with a laser pointer made subjects feel real pain due to expectation, demonstrating the nocebo effect.
- **Pain Rating 6-7** [07:49] — Subject Jessica rated her pain between 6 and 7 out of 10, despite no actual stimulation, showing the power of suggestion.
- **Nocebo Effect Explanation** [11:05] — The expectation of pain causes the brain to generate real pain sensations, even after learning it was fake.
- **Tickle Machine** [12:19] — A machine that brushes the foot with a slight delay between robot and self-touch induces ticklish laughter.
- **Living Without Pain** [13:01] — Steve Pete has congenital insensitivity to pain (CIPA), making life dangerous due to inability to detect injuries.
- **Dread vs Pain Experiment** [15:51] — Subjects chose between brief high voltage shocks or an hour of low voltage shocks; most preferred the short, intense pain to avoid prolonged anticipation.
- **Benefits of Touch** [20:28] — Hugging releases oxytocin, lowers blood pressure, and decreases risk of heart disease, highlighting the importance of physical contact.

### Conclusion

Pain is a complex interplay of biology and psychology—anticipation and suggestion can create real agony, while touch and hugs are vital for health.

## Transcript

optical illusions get all the attention. can be fooled and can fool the brain. is the thermal grill illusion.
I have some hot dog halves in an ice bath. Now what I'm going to do is marry the halves together Warm, cool.
When I'm done, I will have a torture device. But not one that hurts your body, one that hurts your mind. [laughing]
♪ ♪
- Welcome to "Mind Field." - [chuckles] "Nerdy Nummies." - So I thought she would be the perfect candidate
- Now you didn't hear or see anything I just did, right? What I want you to do is take the bottom of your forearm
Right onto these hot dogs. But now touch them individually. Cold, warm, cold, warm, cold, warm.
- But none of them is as hot as they all felt together. What's going on over here? - Can I try? What we've built here is a version
And for reasons that are still being debated, Maybe the sensors we have, specific to hot and cold, And getting them to fire right together
If they're both firing that near to each other, - Red alert, yeah. - That's what my arm did. this is a great way to hurt someone
without there ever being a mark or any actual damage. - That's pretty sneaky. - Do try this at home. ♪ ♪
that send touch-related sensory information to the brain. don't even need to be generated by nerve endings.
The most well-known type of sympathy pain It's when a pregnant woman's husband Husbands can actually sympathize
that they experience the same problems, nausea, mood swings, et cetera.
It's pain sparked by seeing someone else get hurt. - Amputees can actually be more susceptible to it because experiencing trauma can make the brain more sensitive
Amputees can also feel pain in the limb That is known as phantom pain. that the brain and pain interact
Have you ever heard of the placebo effect? actually cures a person's pain Well, today,
If a subject expects like pain, will they feel it even if it actually exists only in their mind.
to test a non-invasive bone density scanner. But actually, it's a totally fake machine and the kind of $10 laser pointer
It doesn't cause physical pain, or for that matter, It doesn't hurt at all. You guys, this doesn't work. make our subject think she's feeling real pain?
Just go ahead and take a seat right there. just let us know and we'll dismiss you, okay?
expect to experience pain. Sorry, Jessica, this is for science. - Yeah. I just, you know, need a minute.
- It's like a targeted laser. - Did it hurt? - Yeah. it appears we have successfully primed our subject
- Okay, Jessica, we're ready for you. will she actually feel pain - Hi, Jessica. Come on in.
the medical equipment, the hospital supplies, is designed to play on Jessica's mind. To psychologically induce the anticipation of pain.
It's not invasive. We need to measure And I want you to be really descriptive And pay close attention to the pain that you feel
Notice how we are suggesting that she will feel pain, - I'm gonna give you a ball to squeeze - And any time you want to stop, it stops right away.
- You ready? [machine humming]
- It's definitely warm. - Uh-huh. And, like, like, tingly. she's already feeling a physical sensation on her skin,
Keep in mind, we tested our fake bone scanner, - Yeah, now it's-- doesn't feel that great. - We're at 30 seconds. - Really, like, stinging.
really, really hot. - Now it's hot. We're at 45 seconds. - Yeah, it doesn't--it's... - Okay, I'm gonna turn it off. - Okay, thanks.
- It was, like, warm and then that, like, heat grew - On this pain scale, could you point to - Between a six and a seven.
she experienced significant pain. This is completely up to you, but we can move to level two, - How many more levels are there?
- Oh, my gosh. - But again, - Uh, yeah, sure. Let's do it. [chuckles] Will she feel an increase in her level of pain
- Mm-hmm. [machine humming] We're not doing anything different than before, - So, yeah, it started off higher
It's definitely, like, already stinging. - Immediately, she reports increased pain on level two. like, penetrating.
1/2 and inch or, like, an inch. Yeah, it is... it's very hot. Um, like burning.
Like my whole arm is, like, on fire. - Yeah. - Okay, we're off. - You're welcome. - [sniffs]
- Could you rank for me how you felt at level two? - The power of suggestion was so strong, she felt almost the worst pain imaginable.
Other subject felt different imaginary sensations. - Stop. - How did that feel? Actually it's tingling a lot more now
- I was surprised at the intense reaction only in their minds. - Look, I'm gonna stop it now. That was 45 seconds.
- It felt like a little prickle - What about our original subject How will she feel when she learns it was all in her head?
So this is a psychology program, This is just a machine that makes noise.
- For real? - For real. - We didn't do anything to you. - Oh, my God. - This is an investigation in pain anticipation.
I was so close to, like, going to, like, I was so close to leaving. - Uh-huh. - How do you feel about that?
or I was nervous, which is why I felt it. if I think there's going to be pain, a burning sensation on my arms.
- The power of suggestion is so strong even after learning it wasn't real. The name for the effect is the nocebo effect.
- It makes perfect sense, you know, I'm shaky just thinking about it.
But what about when touch straddles the line When a sensation makes you laugh I'm talking about tickling.
Your brain doesn't know exactly what to expect On the other hand, it's impossible If the brain knows where and when and how
But professors of cognitive neuroscience have invented the tickle machine. that is connected to a handle.
the brush rotates at the exact same time Then the machine is switched into tickle mode... of less than a second between when the subject
- [laughing]  - This slight change thus allowing the subject to respond to the tickle.
- Tickles can be fun. If you couldn't feel pain, that would be great, right? Let's meet Steve Pete.
- Yes, I was born with a rare genetic condition It only affects about 40 to 50 of us around the world with it. So far that we've been able to find.
- Pain is used to detect injury "Hey, don't do this anymore." It's an alarm system. we feel what's going on
you would feel me touching your shoulder, that's painful, I would feel just a pressure, - Okay, so you feel everything-- - Everything else.
- Yeah. Correct. - But that could be dangerous. - Well, what happened was I was teething So my parents quickly took me to my pediatrician.
- Do you itch? - Yes. - What about a headache? - No. I mean, I do sense the burning sensation,
- What about intestine pain like gas pain? so that kind of ties into one of my biggest fears, or any other type of internal damage
I'm sure that people, often naively, Well, you should become a boxer." being that I have had so many injuries during my childhood,
Other than that, really, - I cannot describe pain to you. - Which is where I run into my problem
- Wow, I'll bet. This was really, really fascinating. So not being able to feel pain is actually a bad thing.
But likewise, the anticipation of pain can be bad too. Just making someone think that they might be tortured soon The CIA and Guantanamo Bay are known
involving the anticipation of pain against prisoners in the war on terror. The effects of this type of torture can last a lifetime.
Waiting for pain to happen or the pain itself? You might be surprised. on an anticipation of pain experiment,
which gave subject two options. Or option two: Anticipate a lower level of pain
Researchers found that the psychological effects of dread can often be worse than the pain itself. by setting up a fake research study.
the effects of electrical stimulation on the body. But it can be unpleasant. - Right. I want to show you first what we call the light setting, okay?
- I guess so. - And then there's the high setting. - Okay. - I don't--[laughing]
- Yeah. - But you're safe. - Okay. - Ready? [buzzing] Hmm, okay.
- Oh, okay. - Okay. - Okay. All right, so now that you know the two differences,
which is one high voltage shock every ten seconds for a minute. the higher, more painful shocks,
Or choice B is one low voltage shock Or will they choose the lower shocks,
between shocks for a solid hour? What's worse? A higher level of pain? the lower level of pain?
- I think I'll do the shorter, Now that they've made their choices, experience these two options?
the lower level of pain during the course of an hour along with our actors, - Hi.
- This subject's hour-long ordeal is just beginning. and take the more painful shocks right away? Here's shock number one. [buzzing]
- Yes, the shock is painful, but it was her choice. - It's really painful. - It's half over.  - Exactly.
- Shock number four. [buzzing] Number six. [buzzing] Meanwhile, our other subject is only on shock number one.
five more to go. [buzzing] the subject has plenty of time for the pain and its anticipation to occupy his mind.
- Hi, Jerome, would you come with me? Tell me about why you chose the lower voltage choice.
- While you were sitting there how did you feel? so basically you got your thoughts.
- This anxiety may be the reason why opted to receive the more painful shocks right away, of anticipation.
Why did you choose the higher shock group? I think ten seconds is easier to go along with So it's kind of like
- You'd rather-- - Hard and fast. [soft music] Tickling may be annoying,
and pain may be, well, painful, but we crave touch. Hugging can actually decrease your risk
And hugging can lower blood pressure. Hugging can also release oxytocin, I guess what I'm trying to say is...
[electronic music] ♪ ♪