07 February 2012
Professor Rod Flower FRS talks about the report.
Professor Rod Flower FRS talks about the report.
This report considers some of the potential military and law enforcement applications arising from key advances in neuroscience.
Key findings
Neuroscientists have a responsibility to be aware from an early stage of their training that knowledge and technologies used for beneficial purposes can also be misused for harmful purposes.
The development of an absolutely safe incapacitating chemical weapon is not technically feasible because of inherent variables such as the size, health and age of the target population, secondary injury and the requirement for medical aftercare.
Countries adhering to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) should address the definition and status of incapacitating chemical weapons under the CWC at the next Review Conference in 2013.
Neuroscience is a rapidly advancing field encompassing a range of applications and technologies that are likely to provide significant benefits to society, particularly in the treatment of neurological impairment, disease, and psychiatric illness. However, this new knowledge also suggests a number of potential military and law enforcement applications.
These applications tend to serve one of two main goals. Performance enhancing applications seek to improve the efficiency of one’s own forces – for example by optimising recruitment, training and operational performance or improving treatments for rehabilitation. Performance degrading applications seek to diminish the performance of one’s enemy – for example through the development of weapons such as incapacitating chemicals.
The report considers some of the key advances in neuroscience, including neuropharmacology, functional neuroimaging and neural interface systems, which could impact upon these developments and the policy implications for the international community, the UK government and the scientific community
Source:http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/brain-waves/
Project details
This project is investigating developments in neuroscience and their implications for society and public policy.
Increasing understanding of the brain and associated advances in technologies to study it will enable improved treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and mental illnesses. These advances will also increase our insights into normal human behaviour and mental wellbeing, and give the possibility of other enhancement, manipulation, and even degradation of brain function.
These developments are likely to provide significant benefits for society, and they will also raise major social and ethical issues due to wide ranging applications. Brain research is likely to have implications for a diverse range of public policy areas such as health, education, law, and security. Progress in neuroscience raises questions about personality, identity, responsibility, and liberty.
The Brain Waves project explores the potential and the limitations of neuroscience insights for policymaking, as well as the benefits and the risks posed by applications of neuroscience and neurotechnologies.
Neuroscience could mean soldiers controlling weapons with minds:
Neuroscience breakthroughs could be harnessed by military and law enforcers, says Royal Society report
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 6 February 2012
Medevac troops from the American 451st air expeditionary wing look out from their Pavehawk helicopter while heading to pick up casualties in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Soldiers could have their minds plugged directly into weapons systems, undergo brain scans during recruitment and take courses of neural stimulation to boost their learning, if the armed forces embrace the latest developments in neuroscience to hone the performance of their troops.
These scenarios are described in a report into the military and law enforcement uses of neuroscience, published on Tuesday, which also highlights a raft of legal and ethical concerns that innovations in the field may bring.
The report by the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, says that while the rapid advance of neuroscience is expected to benefit society and improve treatments for brain disease and mental illness, it also has substantial security applications that should be carefully analysed.
The report's authors also anticipate new designer drugs that boost performance, make captives more talkative and make enemy troops fall asleep.
"Neuroscience will have more of an impact in the future," said Rod Flower, chair of the report's working group.
"People can see a lot of possibilities, but so far very few have made their way through to actual use.
"All leaps forward start out this way. You have a groundswell of ideas and suddenly you get a step change."
The authors argue that while hostile uses of neuroscience and related technologies are ever more likely, scientists remain almost oblivious to the dual uses of their research.
The report calls for a fresh effort to educate neuroscientists about such uses of the work early in their careers.
Some techniques used widely in neuroscience are on the brink of being adopted by the military to improve the training of soldiers, pilots and other personnel.
A growing body of research suggests that passing weak electrical signals through the skull, using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can improve people's performance in some tasks.
One study cited by the report described how US neuroscientists employed tDCS to improve people's ability to spot roadside bombs, snipers and other hidden threats in a virtual reality training programme used by US troops bound for the Middle East.
"Those who had tDCS learned to spot the targets much quicker," said Vince Clark, a cognitive neuroscientist and lead author on the study at the University of New Mexico. "Their accuracy increased twice as fast as those who had minimal brain stimulation. I was shocked that the effect was so large."
Clark, whose wider research on tDCS could lead to radical therapies for those with dementia, psychiatric disorders and learning difficulties, admits to a tension in knowing that neuroscience will be used by the military.
"As a scientist I dislike that someone might be hurt by my work. I want to reduce suffering, to make the world a better place, but there are people in the world with different intentions, and I don't know how to deal with that.
"If I stop my work, the people who might be helped won't be helped. Almost any technology has a defence application."
Research with tDCS is in its infancy, but work so far suggests it might help people by boosting their attention and memory. According to theRoyal Society report, when used with brain imaging systems, tDCS "may prove to be the much sought-after tool to enhance learning in a military context".
One of the report's most striking scenarios involves the use of devices called brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) to connect people's brains directly to military technology, including drones and other weapons systems.
The work builds on research that has enabled people to control cursors and artificial limbs through BMIs that read their brain signals.
"Since the human brain can process images, such as targets, much faster than the subject is consciously aware of, a neurally interfaced weapons system could provide significant advantages over other system control methods in terms of speed and accuracy," the report states.
The authors go on to stress the ethical and legal concerns that surround the use of BMIs by the military. Flower, a professor of pharmacology at the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and the London hospital, said: "If you are controlling a drone and you shoot the wrong target or bomb a wedding party, who is responsible for that action? Is it you or the BMI?
"There's a blurring of the line between individual responsibility and the functioning of the machine. Where do you stop and the machine begin?"
Another tool expected to enter military use is the EEG (electroencephalogram), which uses a hairnet of electrodes to record brainwaves through the skull. Used with a system called "neurofeedback", people can learn to control their brainwaves and improve their skills.
According to the report, the technique has been shown to improve training in golfers and archers.
The US military research organisation, Darpa, has already used EEG to help spot targets in satellite images that were missed by the person screening them. The EEG traces revealed that the brain sometimes noticed targets but failed to make them conscious thoughts. Staff used the EEG traces to select a group of images for closer inspection and improved their target detection threefold, the report notes.
Work on brain connectivity has already raised the prospect of using scans to select fast learners during recruitment drives.
Research last year by Scott Grafton at the University of California, Santa Barbara, drew on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to measure the flexibility of brain networks. They found that a person's flexibility helped predict how quickly they would learn a new task.
Other studies suggest neuroscience could help distinguish risk-takers from more conservative decision-makers, and so help with assessments of whether they are better suited to peacekeeping missions or special forces, the report states.
"Informal assessment occurs routinely throughout the military community. The issue is whether adopting more formal techniques based on the results of research in neuroeconomics, neuropsychology and other neuroscience disciplines confers an advantage in decision-making."
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 6 February 2012
Medevac troops from the American 451st air expeditionary wing look out from their Pavehawk helicopter while heading to pick up casualties in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Soldiers could have their minds plugged directly into weapons systems, undergo brain scans during recruitment and take courses of neural stimulation to boost their learning, if the armed forces embrace the latest developments in neuroscience to hone the performance of their troops.
These scenarios are described in a report into the military and law enforcement uses of neuroscience, published on Tuesday, which also highlights a raft of legal and ethical concerns that innovations in the field may bring.
The report by the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, says that while the rapid advance of neuroscience is expected to benefit society and improve treatments for brain disease and mental illness, it also has substantial security applications that should be carefully analysed.
The report's authors also anticipate new designer drugs that boost performance, make captives more talkative and make enemy troops fall asleep.
"Neuroscience will have more of an impact in the future," said Rod Flower, chair of the report's working group.
"People can see a lot of possibilities, but so far very few have made their way through to actual use.
"All leaps forward start out this way. You have a groundswell of ideas and suddenly you get a step change."
The authors argue that while hostile uses of neuroscience and related technologies are ever more likely, scientists remain almost oblivious to the dual uses of their research.
The report calls for a fresh effort to educate neuroscientists about such uses of the work early in their careers.
Some techniques used widely in neuroscience are on the brink of being adopted by the military to improve the training of soldiers, pilots and other personnel.
A growing body of research suggests that passing weak electrical signals through the skull, using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can improve people's performance in some tasks.
One study cited by the report described how US neuroscientists employed tDCS to improve people's ability to spot roadside bombs, snipers and other hidden threats in a virtual reality training programme used by US troops bound for the Middle East.
"Those who had tDCS learned to spot the targets much quicker," said Vince Clark, a cognitive neuroscientist and lead author on the study at the University of New Mexico. "Their accuracy increased twice as fast as those who had minimal brain stimulation. I was shocked that the effect was so large."
Clark, whose wider research on tDCS could lead to radical therapies for those with dementia, psychiatric disorders and learning difficulties, admits to a tension in knowing that neuroscience will be used by the military.
"As a scientist I dislike that someone might be hurt by my work. I want to reduce suffering, to make the world a better place, but there are people in the world with different intentions, and I don't know how to deal with that.
"If I stop my work, the people who might be helped won't be helped. Almost any technology has a defence application."
Research with tDCS is in its infancy, but work so far suggests it might help people by boosting their attention and memory. According to theRoyal Society report, when used with brain imaging systems, tDCS "may prove to be the much sought-after tool to enhance learning in a military context".
One of the report's most striking scenarios involves the use of devices called brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) to connect people's brains directly to military technology, including drones and other weapons systems.
The work builds on research that has enabled people to control cursors and artificial limbs through BMIs that read their brain signals.
"Since the human brain can process images, such as targets, much faster than the subject is consciously aware of, a neurally interfaced weapons system could provide significant advantages over other system control methods in terms of speed and accuracy," the report states.
The authors go on to stress the ethical and legal concerns that surround the use of BMIs by the military. Flower, a professor of pharmacology at the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and the London hospital, said: "If you are controlling a drone and you shoot the wrong target or bomb a wedding party, who is responsible for that action? Is it you or the BMI?
"There's a blurring of the line between individual responsibility and the functioning of the machine. Where do you stop and the machine begin?"
Another tool expected to enter military use is the EEG (electroencephalogram), which uses a hairnet of electrodes to record brainwaves through the skull. Used with a system called "neurofeedback", people can learn to control their brainwaves and improve their skills.
According to the report, the technique has been shown to improve training in golfers and archers.
The US military research organisation, Darpa, has already used EEG to help spot targets in satellite images that were missed by the person screening them. The EEG traces revealed that the brain sometimes noticed targets but failed to make them conscious thoughts. Staff used the EEG traces to select a group of images for closer inspection and improved their target detection threefold, the report notes.
Work on brain connectivity has already raised the prospect of using scans to select fast learners during recruitment drives.
Research last year by Scott Grafton at the University of California, Santa Barbara, drew on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to measure the flexibility of brain networks. They found that a person's flexibility helped predict how quickly they would learn a new task.
Other studies suggest neuroscience could help distinguish risk-takers from more conservative decision-makers, and so help with assessments of whether they are better suited to peacekeeping missions or special forces, the report states.
"Informal assessment occurs routinely throughout the military community. The issue is whether adopting more formal techniques based on the results of research in neuroeconomics, neuropsychology and other neuroscience disciplines confers an advantage in decision-making."
Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/feb/07/neuroscience-soldiers-control-weapons-mind
MILITARY
Future wars may be waged with mind-controlled weaponry, Royal Society warns
By James Holloway
07:15 February 7, 2012
A report published by the Royal Society warns the neuroscience community to be aware of the military ramifications of its research, including the potential for mind-controlled weaponry (Image: Patrick Hoesly)
Neuroscience has ramifications for future warfare, and the scientific community must be more aware. So says a report published today by the Royal Society titledNeuroscience, conflict and security, which cites interest in neuroscience from the military community, and identifies particular technologies that may arise. Among them is the potential for "neural interface systems" (NIS) to bring about weapons controllable by the human mind, though the reports also discusses more benign military applications of neuroscience, such as fostering a revolution in prosthetic limbs.
Brain-controlled technology
The report distinguishes between two types of neural interface: those that "input into" the brain's neural systems, and those that monitor neural activity to predict "motor intentions" - outcomes of thought processes, essentially. Specific NIS technologies mentioned by the report include both EEG and electronic implants, citing the success of BrainGate in allowing paralyzed patients to control the motion of an on-screen cursor by "simply imagining this motion."
"NIS such as BrainGate could also be used to allow long-range control of motion," the report finds. "Electrode arrays implanted in the nervous system could provide a connection between the nervous system of an able-bodied individual and a specific hardware or software system. Since the human brain can process images, such as targets, much faster than the subject is consciously aware of, a neurally interfaced weapons systems could provide significant advantages over other system control methods in terms of speed and accuracy."
Sensing the battlefield
The report also discusses the sensory potential of NIS technology. Infrared or sonar sensors connected to magnetic implants on the human body could allow combatants and law enforcers to effectively feel the heat or proximity of an object. On these points and others, the report highlights not only technological possibilities, but also that ethical and legal questions that surround them.
Military interest
The report highlights a wealth of current search and available funding from various US and UK government agencies into neuroscience applications. DARPA is funding programs seeking to enhance human performance under stress, and neural-controlled prosthetics. The US Air Force 711th Human Performance Wing invites research into alertness management, as well as the identification of "human-borne threats" and individuals resistant to "stressors and countermeasures on cognitive performance and physiological stamina." Meanwhile the UK Ministry of Defence has launched a national PhD which includes bio-electronics integration, synthetic synaesthesia and exploiting the subconscious.
By identifying active military research into neuroscience, the Royal Society paints a future of warfare influenced by neuroscience applications as a very real possibility. As well as neuroscience's massive potential for benign medical applications, the Royal Society is seeking to raise awareness among the scientific community of "hostile" applications.
Recommendations
"Studies suggest that the great majority of scientists have little to no knowledge of their obligations under these treaties, nor a wide awareness of the potential malign applications of their research," the report concludes, before recommending that the UK government should strengthen communications with industry and academia to "scope for significant future trends and threats posed by the applications of neuroscience."
The full report and its set of recommendations is available from the Royal Society website. Report chair, Professor Rod Flower FRS, summarizes the report in the following video.
Source: Royal Society via the Guardian
MILITARY
Future wars may be waged with mind-controlled weaponry, Royal Society warns
By James Holloway
07:15 February 7, 2012
A report published by the Royal Society warns the neuroscience community to be aware of the military ramifications of its research, including the potential for mind-controlled weaponry (Image: Patrick Hoesly)
Neuroscience has ramifications for future warfare, and the scientific community must be more aware. So says a report published today by the Royal Society titledNeuroscience, conflict and security, which cites interest in neuroscience from the military community, and identifies particular technologies that may arise. Among them is the potential for "neural interface systems" (NIS) to bring about weapons controllable by the human mind, though the reports also discusses more benign military applications of neuroscience, such as fostering a revolution in prosthetic limbs.
Brain-controlled technology
The report distinguishes between two types of neural interface: those that "input into" the brain's neural systems, and those that monitor neural activity to predict "motor intentions" - outcomes of thought processes, essentially. Specific NIS technologies mentioned by the report include both EEG and electronic implants, citing the success of BrainGate in allowing paralyzed patients to control the motion of an on-screen cursor by "simply imagining this motion."
"NIS such as BrainGate could also be used to allow long-range control of motion," the report finds. "Electrode arrays implanted in the nervous system could provide a connection between the nervous system of an able-bodied individual and a specific hardware or software system. Since the human brain can process images, such as targets, much faster than the subject is consciously aware of, a neurally interfaced weapons systems could provide significant advantages over other system control methods in terms of speed and accuracy."
Sensing the battlefield
The report also discusses the sensory potential of NIS technology. Infrared or sonar sensors connected to magnetic implants on the human body could allow combatants and law enforcers to effectively feel the heat or proximity of an object. On these points and others, the report highlights not only technological possibilities, but also that ethical and legal questions that surround them.
Military interest
The report highlights a wealth of current search and available funding from various US and UK government agencies into neuroscience applications. DARPA is funding programs seeking to enhance human performance under stress, and neural-controlled prosthetics. The US Air Force 711th Human Performance Wing invites research into alertness management, as well as the identification of "human-borne threats" and individuals resistant to "stressors and countermeasures on cognitive performance and physiological stamina." Meanwhile the UK Ministry of Defence has launched a national PhD which includes bio-electronics integration, synthetic synaesthesia and exploiting the subconscious.
By identifying active military research into neuroscience, the Royal Society paints a future of warfare influenced by neuroscience applications as a very real possibility. As well as neuroscience's massive potential for benign medical applications, the Royal Society is seeking to raise awareness among the scientific community of "hostile" applications.
Recommendations
"Studies suggest that the great majority of scientists have little to no knowledge of their obligations under these treaties, nor a wide awareness of the potential malign applications of their research," the report concludes, before recommending that the UK government should strengthen communications with industry and academia to "scope for significant future trends and threats posed by the applications of neuroscience."
The full report and its set of recommendations is available from the Royal Society website. Report chair, Professor Rod Flower FRS, summarizes the report in the following video.
Source: Royal Society via the Guardian
