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A New Type of “Rat Control” Technology, Sans Poision

Recent experiments at Harvard utilize a Computer Brain Interface (CBI) to control the minds of animals and by extension and with time, possibly humans. Communication occurs between a researcher and an animal subject, in this case a rat, with a computer as intermediary. Direct brain to brain communication via a Brain to Brain Interface (BBI) is considered inevitable once CBI communication can be perfected.

The procedure uses a “non-invasive” CBI where human thoughts are detected and interpreted by an EEG-based sensor attached to a human headset. A researcher looks at a specific symbol or pattern on a computer screen such as a plus sign for example. There may be six different patterns, each representing a behavior to be induced in the rat: wagging the tail, moving a limb, etc.

When the researcher looks at a specific symbol , a specific signal is relayed to the computer and on to a Focused Ultrasound (FUS) CBI attached to the rat’s “headset”. The rat, fitted with a FUS CBI, has specific neurons in its brain stimulated using ultrasound signals and triggering a specific action.

One can imagine external nano size devices or implants running software that will provide a more direct brain to brain connection.

History And Future of “Mind Control”

Historically brain to brain communication has occurred through the senses, that is, verbal, sign language and writing. Science fiction has long toyed with the idea of extrasensory perception (ESP), astral projection, clairvoyance, mediumship, psychokinesis, and out-of-body experiences, among others, in which information is sensed by the mind without need for sensory input.

Popular movies like Stephen King’s “Carrie” in which she gains revenge on her high school classmates using telepathy was an illustration of a belief and a fear that such abilities may exist if only they can be tapped: in Carrie’s case, by intense anger. We are also painfully aware of fascist groups and dictators who have attempted to control populations through mind control techniques AKA “psych ops”, torture and other methods that are more “sensory-based” than not.

Assessing the ethical issues related to this technology and many others currently in development has been a consistent theme on IndustryTap.