The Pentagon's neuroscience research, including mind-controlled drones and brain-monitoring goggles, has raised ethical concerns as trials progress. However, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has remained silent on the status of its mind control weapon programme following recent experiments.
In a landmark study sponsored by Darpa, scientists at Duke University successfully transmitted signals between two rat brains, creating a 'brain net'. The encoder rat's trained response to a visual cue was mimicked by the decoder rat without the cue, demonstrating direct brain-to-brain communication. Miguel Nicolelis, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine, described the work as 'creating an organic computer that solves a puzzle'.
Darpa's broader neuroscience efforts include 'Augmented Cognition' technologies such as goggles that monitor soldiers' brain signals to detect threats before conscious awareness. These are already in testing, though not yet field-ready. President Barack Obama's planned neuroscience initiative could funnel billions of dollars into such research, potentially accelerating military applications.
Ethicists have called for 'neuro ethics' discussions, warning of implications for soldiers' autonomy. In a 2012 article, Jonathan Moreno and Michael Tennison argued that many neuroscientists overlook the military contributions of their work, raising concerns about invasive remote brain control without consent.
Despite the advances, Darpa has not commented on the status of its mind control weapon programme since the trials. The agency's silence leaves questions about the future of cognitive warfare and the ethical boundaries of such technology.
