Well, it may be years before this new development can be used to interrogate
terrorists or criminals…but new scientific breakthroughs have a way of
becoming reality often faster than one might think.  So here are some
thoughts for a Saturday morning…

Brain
scans reveal intentions of calculating minds
Brain
scans that can read a person’s secret intentions even before they act have been
demonstrated by researchers. In a recent study, the technology was 70% accurate
at predicting whether participants planned to add or subtract a pair of
numbers…

…Once the computer program designed to interpret the brain scans had
been “trained” on 40-minutes-worth of calculations by a participant, it could
predict their calculating intention with 70% accuracy. Haynes explains that the
computer program could do this by focusing on the pattern of activity in a
brain region known as the medial prefrontal cortex.

“It’s important to see if we can further increase the
accuracy” of the brain scan tests, he says, adding that it might be achieved by
training the computer for a longer period of time…[more]

Can a brain scan
prove you’re telling the truth?
A new "truth-telling" industry is emerging in the US which uses
brain scans to determine whether or not people are lying. But experts are
already questioning the ethics and validity of such tests…[more]

Now, even though I don’t have access to the entire review, in the article
preview of Review:
Mind wars, by Jonathan Moreno, it is written:

Sponsored by the Pentagon’s
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), RoboRat was the tip of an
iceberg of military research on psychology, the brain and the nervous system.
On the surface, the programme’s goals sound laudable: defusing the actions of
terrorists and insurgents, making soldiers more effective warriors, and helping
the wounded recover. The research also promises potential spin-offs that could
improve the medical treatment of a variety of physical and mental ailments.

So, let your mind wander a little…OK, so now that you’ve had a moment to
think about it, here
is an article about Robo-rats:

The age of the living robot is
upon us. And all it takes to turn a living rat into a radio-controlled
automaton is three electrodes carefully placed in the animal’s brain. Simply
pressing keys on a computer 500 metres away will then steer the animal over an
obstacle course, making it twist, turn and even jump on demand.

The researchers responsible
for the "Robo Rat" claim their work will give neuroscientists a
better understanding of how mammals learn to navigate. They say it will help
pinpoint biochemical changes in the brain, and which brain regions are involved
in processing different behaviours. They even suggest that such rats could be
used to help clear minefields.

But beyond this, lead
researcher Sanjiv Talwar of the State University of New York in New York City
is uncertain what benefits will emerge from the experiments. "It’s
difficult to predict what other studies this could be useful for right
now," he told New Scientist. "There’s going to have to be a wide
debate to see whether this is acceptable or not."

Whoa!  Imagine that!  But then, on the same page as the Robo-rat
article, there is a treasure trove of references and resources (in theory, I
could spend my entire weekend exploring these sources, but I wouldn’t think of
it):

Refs
HOME
Ratbots
Hybrots
Robosnails
Wired Snails
Roboroaches
More Ratbots
Orgasmatrons
Roborat Ethics
Hypermotivation
The New Roborats
The Good Drug Guide
Unnatural Pleasures?
Designer
Aphrodisiacs
Rats, roborats and
ratbots
Electrical Brain
Stimulation
Critique of Brave New World
The Orgasm
Command-Center
The Transcranial
Magnetic Stimulator
Cyborgs,
Transhumans and Neuroelectronics
Wireheads and Wireheading in
Science Fiction
Pleasure Evoked by
Electrical Stimulation of the Brain

Although one of them reminds me of the Woody Allen movie,
"Sleeper."
Push-button
pleasure
Electronic implants may help women who cannot orgasm any other way

But I think (perchance) that I stray too much from the initial intent.

The lie
detector you’ll never know is there


THE US Department of Defense has revealed plans to develop a lie detector that
can be used without the subject knowing they are being assessed. The Remote
Personnel Assessment (RPA) device will also be used to pinpoint fighters hiding
in a combat zone, or even to spot signs of stress that might mark someone out
as a terrorist or suicide bomber…

…But Steve Wright, a conflict analyst at Leeds Metropolitan University,
UK, raises the prospect of people identified as suspects by the device
being captured and subjected to secret "prisoner rendition" as a
result. And he warns that the RPA could introduce a "chill factor" into
everyday life.

Well, there you have it!  We start with a brain scan technique that might be able to predict what someone is thinking and end with a citation on a DoD program, the Remote Personal Assessment, that could help to identify potential terrorists.  Imagine that!  Frankly, whatever can be imagined, it is likely that someone is trying to accomplish.

You might wish to refer back to a previous entry: Spy-Games of our Own - "Extraordinary Renditions"

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