8.6 Neural Weapons
797
the corresponding approach in the field of neural security, which will be able to
minimize dangers described below in general.
As the Royal Society report pointed out, there are two different goals of national
security neuroscience research: “performance enhancement” and “performance
degradation.” The current emphasis of the research seems to be on performance
enhancement through the development of psychopharmaceuticals and brain stimulation methods that increase alertness, reduce stress, and enable the warfighter or
intelligence analyst to make better judgments. Methods for monitoring the brains of
soldiers such as EEGs built into helmets could be used by commanders to understand their mental state or to automatically alert soldiers when they are about to
fall asleep, or to flag threats that are registered by their subconscious [32]. On the
horizon are brain–computer interfaces (BCI) that will enable new neuroprosthetics
and potentially thought-controlled weapons systems [33].
Due to obvious reasons, much less is known about the military’s efforts for developing methods that can degrade the mental performance of the enemy. There are
obvious reasons why governments tend to keep this kind of research very secret:
any neuroscience research that even remotely sounds like “mindcontrol” research
carries a social stigma: researchers and government agencies do not want to be associated with that label; the research most likely requires ethically controversial human
experimentation, which could not pass the muster of ethics reviews; and finally the
effectiveness of some approaches might be substantially reduced if adversaries had
knowledge of them and thus could employ effective countermeasures.
Weapons developers see the warfighter increasingly as the weakest link in the “kill
chain”: humans have fragile physical bodies and minds, they need water, food, and
sleep in regular intervals, and up to now very little could be done to overcome these
human limitations. Three approaches seem to be particularly promising in terms
of neuroscientific human enhancement: neuropharmacology, brain stimulation, and
brain–computer interfaces, which we will briefly consider below.
8.6.2 Military Neuropharmacology
Neuroscientists have gained over the decades an excellent understanding of brain
chemistry, which has already led to the development of many new psychotropic drugs
such as Prozac (fluoxetine). Researchers hope to not only cure depression and other
mental disorders, but to ultimately enhance mental capabilities through so-called
nootropic drugs. Better computer models based on new methods of neuroimaging
could enable researchers to better predict the effects of certain drugs on the brain.
Greater precision of drug delivery to specific areas of the brain could also produce
very precise psychological and behavioral effects [34].
One particular promising cognitive enhancement drug that is currently being
reviewed by several militaries around the world is modafinil. The drug has already
been approved by the FDA for treating narcolepsy and sleep disorders (known
under the brand name Provigil). What makes modafinil especially interesting for
797
the corresponding approach in the field of neural security, which will be able to
minimize dangers described below in general.
As the Royal Society report pointed out, there are two different goals of national
security neuroscience research: “performance enhancement” and “performance
degradation.” The current emphasis of the research seems to be on performance
enhancement through the development of psychopharmaceuticals and brain stimulation methods that increase alertness, reduce stress, and enable the warfighter or
intelligence analyst to make better judgments. Methods for monitoring the brains of
soldiers such as EEGs built into helmets could be used by commanders to understand their mental state or to automatically alert soldiers when they are about to
fall asleep, or to flag threats that are registered by their subconscious [32]. On the
horizon are brain–computer interfaces (BCI) that will enable new neuroprosthetics
and potentially thought-controlled weapons systems [33].
Due to obvious reasons, much less is known about the military’s efforts for developing methods that can degrade the mental performance of the enemy. There are
obvious reasons why governments tend to keep this kind of research very secret:
any neuroscience research that even remotely sounds like “mindcontrol” research
carries a social stigma: researchers and government agencies do not want to be associated with that label; the research most likely requires ethically controversial human
experimentation, which could not pass the muster of ethics reviews; and finally the
effectiveness of some approaches might be substantially reduced if adversaries had
knowledge of them and thus could employ effective countermeasures.
Weapons developers see the warfighter increasingly as the weakest link in the “kill
chain”: humans have fragile physical bodies and minds, they need water, food, and
sleep in regular intervals, and up to now very little could be done to overcome these
human limitations. Three approaches seem to be particularly promising in terms
of neuroscientific human enhancement: neuropharmacology, brain stimulation, and
brain–computer interfaces, which we will briefly consider below.
8.6.2 Military Neuropharmacology
Neuroscientists have gained over the decades an excellent understanding of brain
chemistry, which has already led to the development of many new psychotropic drugs
such as Prozac (fluoxetine). Researchers hope to not only cure depression and other
mental disorders, but to ultimately enhance mental capabilities through so-called
nootropic drugs. Better computer models based on new methods of neuroimaging
could enable researchers to better predict the effects of certain drugs on the brain.
Greater precision of drug delivery to specific areas of the brain could also produce
very precise psychological and behavioral effects [34].
One particular promising cognitive enhancement drug that is currently being
reviewed by several militaries around the world is modafinil. The drug has already
been approved by the FDA for treating narcolepsy and sleep disorders (known
under the brand name Provigil). What makes modafinil especially interesting for