UNIVERSCITY OCF PENNSYLVANIA
CENTER FOR BIOETHICS
Mind Wars:
Brain Research and
National Defense
Jonathan D. Moreno
David and LynDate
Silfen University Professor
National Research Council,
August 13, 2008
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“Committee on Military
and Intelligence
Methodology for
Emergent Physiological
and
Cognitive/Neural Science
Research in the Next Two
Decades”
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Client: Defense
Intelligence Agency
Henry A. Murray
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Father of personality
theory
Director of Harvard
Psychological Clinic
Explorations in
Personality, 1938
Developed Thematic
Apperception Test for
the US Army during
WWII
First chief
psychologist in the
OSS
Assessment of Men,
1948
Allen Dulles
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Legendary CIA director
Commissioned WolfHinkle report on “brain
washing”, 1953
Subsequently
supported various
hallucinogenic and
innovative human
experiments
Sidney Gottlieb
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CIA spymaster
Developed toxic items
for assassination
(Castro, Patrice
Lumumba)
Funded hallucinogen
experiments
Architect of MKUltra
program
Frank Olson
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CIA anthrax expert
assigned to Fort
Detrick
Given LSD
Descended to his
death from a
Manhattan hotel,
1953
The Case of Harold Blaur
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NY tennis pro, 42 y.o.
Admitted to NY State
Psychiatric Institute for
depression, January 1953
Unconsented mescaline
experiment funded by US
Army Chemical Corps
Died after overdose
Covered up, LSD aspect
revealed in Ford
administration,
compensation to adult
children 1978
Henry Beecher
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Icon of human research
ethics
Harvard anesthesiology
professor
Work on LSD supported
by CIA
Reported foreign
science contacts to CIA
through the 1950s
“Harvard and the Unibomber”
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Experiment in
personality
deconstruction of
Harvard undergrads
Humiliation technique
Ted Kaczynski was a
subject
The Professor and the
Unibomber
Kurt Lewin
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Founder of modern
social psychology
Advised OSS on
psychological warfare
Perhaps up to a third of
major research
university faculty were
supported by security
agencies after WWII
J.B. Rhine
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Distinguished Duke
U. parapsychology
researcher
ESP studies
CIA supported
starting in 1952
“Psiops”
U.S. Test of Simulated NonLethal Mortar Round, 2002
(Image from Project Sunshine)
The Moscow Theater Tragedy,
October 2002
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Chechen terrorists
occupy Russian
theater during play
Fentanyl pumped into
the heating ducts
Emergency teams not
informed of the nature
of the agent
128 die
Reading Hidden Intentions in the Human Brain
Haynes, J. -D. et al. Current Biology 17, 323-328 (2007)
Kay, K. N., Naselaris, T., Prenger, R. J. & Gallant, J. L. Nature
advanced online publication doi:10.1038/nature067,
15 March 2008).
“In the experiment, the brain activity
of two subjects was monitored while
they were shown 1,750 different
pictures. The team then selected 120
novel images that the subjects hadn’t
seen before, and used the previous
results to predict their brain
responses. When the test subjects
were shown one of the images, the
team could match the actual brain
response to their predictions to
accurately pick out which of the
pictures they had been shown. With
one of the participants they were
correct 72% of the time, and with the
other 92% of the time; on chance
alone they would have been right only
0.8% of the time.”
Non-invasive Brain Imaging
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Uses fMRI (oxygenation)
or PET scans (glucose)
Correlations of
neurochemistry with
behavior
NIRS (Near Infrared
Spectroscopy) cheaper
and portable, also
records oxygenation but
poor temporal resolution
Transcranial Magnetic
Stimulation
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Induces changes in brain
activation
Could be used to alter a
person’s social behavior
or attitudes
Influence brain functions
including physical
movement, visual
perception, memory,
reaction time, speech and
mood
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$3 billion budget
Developed internet,
stealth bomber
Dedicated to long-range
innovation through
speculative technical
possibilities
Various current
neuroscience projects
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Neuroimaging and the
“Head Web”
Noninvasive brain
monitoring devices
Contract: “Head
Access Laminar
Optoelectronic
Neuroimaging
System”
Contract: “Wireless
Near-Infrared Devices
for Neural Monitoring
in Operational
Environments”
Security and medical
uses
“Neuromics”: DARPA’s MindMachine Interface Programs
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Training honeybees to detect explosives and other
“odors of interest”
The “electronic dog’s nose” to develop electronic
devices that can sniff out explosives as well as dogs.
Improved battlefield vision technology based on fly
eyes
“Enhanced Human Performance” project to make
warfighter more endurant, better able to heal
“Continuous Assisted Performance” project to
enable fighters to stay awake and alert 24/7
“AugCog”, DARPA, 2002
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will develop the technologies needed to measure
and track a subject’s cognitive state in real-time
enhance operational capability, support reduction in
the numbers of persons required to perform current
functions, and improve human performance in
stressful environments
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E.g., cockpit design: a computer-based command
environment (working memory), an unmanned combat
vehicle (executive function), a combat vehicle (sensory
input), and an integrated individual combat system
(attention).
Cognitive Threat Warning System
“Luke’s Binoculars”
Cyborgs
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At a certain point the
neural system
integrates the
information encoded on
an implanted chip
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What does this mean
for the research
participant’s capacity?
Has the participant’s
identity been altered?
The Roborat
No Bull: Jose Delgado’s
“Stimoceiver”, 1958
Modafinil (Provigil)
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Possible
replacement for
amphetamines
The “Anti-Conscience” Pill
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Beta blockers can be
used to treat stress,
prevent PTSD
Suppress release of
hormones like
norephinephrine that
help encode memory
Might also reduce guilt
feelings
The trust drug?
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Natural oxytocin
production is
associated with trust
behavior
May be artificially
administered in a
spray to encourage
cooperation
Use in interrogations?
Scientists’ Use of Brain Enhancers
Nature 450, 1157–1159 ; 2007
20% of readers reported
using at least one of
these for non-medical
reasons:
Ritalin (62%)
Modafinil (44%
Beta blockers (15%)
Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and
Related Technologies
(National Academies Press, 2008)
1.
2.
3.
The Big Picture: Bridging the Science and Technology for the Decision
Maker
Current Cognitive Neuroscience Research and Technology: Selected Areas
of Interest
1.
Challenges to the Detection of Psychological States and Intentions via
Neurophysiological Activity
2.
Neuropsychopharmacology
3.
Functional Neuroimaging
Emerging Areas of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neurotechnologies
Summary
“The intelligence community (IC) faces the challenging task of analyzing
extremely large amounts of information on cognitive neuroscience and
neurotechnology, deciding which of that information has national security
implications, and then assigning priorities for decision makers. It is also
challenged to keep pace with rapid scientific advances that can only be
understood through close and continuing collaboration with experts from the
scientific community, from the corporate world, and from academia. The
situation will become more complex as the volume of information continues
to grow. The Committee … was tasked by the Technology Warning Division
of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA’s) Defense Warning Office to
identify areas of cognitive neuroscience and related technologies that will
develop over the next two decades and that could have military applications
that might also be of interest to the IC.”
Tasks
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Review the current state of today's work in neurophysiology and cognitive/
neural science, select the manners in which this work could be of interest to
national security professionals, and trends for future warfighting applications
that may warrant continued analysis and tracking by the intelligence
community,
Use the technology warning methodology developed in the 2005 National
Research Council report Avoiding Surprise in an Era of Global Technology Advances
(NRC, 2005) to assess the health, rate of development, and degree of
innovation in the neurophysiology and cognitive/neural science research areas
of interest, and
Amplify the technology warning methodology to illustrate the ways in which
neurophysiological and cognitive/neural research conducted in selected
countries may affect committee assessments.
Thank you!
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University of Pennsylvania
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Center for Bioethics
Center for Cognitive
Neuroscience
Department of History and
Sociology of Science
Dana Foundation
Howard Hughes Medical
Institute
National Research Council