The mind really is a battlefield. <\/p>\n
Advances in neurological medicine might seem like a boon to humanity. However, UK scientists are warning that the tech could also be used to develop \u201cbrain weapons\u201d that can alter human consciousness, perception, or behavior.<\/p>\n
This apocalyptic \u201cwake-up call\u201d was floated in the book, \u201cPreventing Weaponization of CNS-acting Chemicals:\u00a0A Holistic Arms Control Analysis,\u201d<\/a> by researchers Michael Crowley and Malcolm Dando of Bradford University.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tools to manipulate the central nervous system \u2013 to sedate, confuse or even coerce \u2013 are becoming more precise, more accessible and more attractive to states,\u201d Crowley said. INSTARimages\/Yang Research Group at the University of Southern California (USC)<\/p>\n Dando, a biological and weapons control expert, said that the \u201csame knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition\u201d and \u201cinduce compliance,\u201d per a release by the university.<\/a><\/p>\n It could even be used in the \u201cfuture [to] turn people into unwitting agents,\u201d like something out of a dystopian thriller, he argued.<\/p>\n But what might \u201csound like science fiction\u201d could become \u201cscience fact,\u201d according to Crowley, an honorary visiting senior research fellow at Bradford\u2019s peace studies and international development division. <\/p>\n He claimed that humanity has entered a new age of warfare where the \u201cbrain itself could become a battlefield\u201d due to the increased ubiquity and sophistication of pharmaceutically-induced mind control.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tools to manipulate the central nervous system \u2013 to sedate, confuse or even coerce \u2013 are becoming more precise, more accessible and more attractive to states,\u201d Crowley said.<\/p>\n These pharmaceutical weapons could turn people into unwitting agents. Studio Romantic \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n To highlight the dangers of this weaponization of the brain, Dando and Crowley traced the history of central nervous system (CNS)-acting chemicals, which were notably developed by China, the US and Russia during the 1950s and 60s.<\/p>\n Their goal? To incapacitate the enemy by inducing \u201closs of consciousness,\u201d paralysis, sedation and other effects like synthetic Cordyceps, per Crowley.<\/p>\n Infamous examples include the US development of BZ (quinuclidinyl benzilate), a chemical weapon that could cause delirium and hallucinations. While this hallucinogen was intended <\/a>for use in Vietnam \u2014 and was allegedly tested on soldiers \u2014 there\u2019s no evidence that the agent was ever deployed.<\/p>\n The researchers worried that these breakthroughs in neuroscience could provide a blueprint for manufacturers of CNS-acting substances. Ulia Koltyrina \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n