Torture to uncover brain secrets - BBC

[DoYouEverWonder]

12 January, 2005

Volunteers are to undergo torture to see if faith eases pain.

Oxford University scientists will carry out experiments on hundreds of people in a bid to understand how the brain works during states of consciousness.

One aspect of the two-year study will involve followers of both religious and secular faiths being burnt to see if they can handle more pain than others.

Some volunteers will be shown religious symbols such as crucifixes and images of the Virgin Mary during the torture.

<snip>

The team from the newly-formed Centre for Science of the Mind also want to include people with survival techniques in the torture experiments, which may help the special forces easily identify people with high pain thresholds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4167565.stm


At first I thought I had clinked into the National Enquirer, but no, it's on the BBC so it must be true. Does anyone else think there is something really warped about this whole story. BTW, who the heck is the newly-formed Centre for Science of the Mind, graduates from the Nazi concentration camps?