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After watching the “Into the Mind: Mind Control” video ,https://vimeo.com/70864946, answer each question with at least 200 words.

  1. Based on the information in Ch. 1 of Research Methods and Statistics and the video, what is the goal of psychological research?

  1. Identify one landmark study from the video. What did the field of psychology learn from this study? What are some ethical considerations that should be considered?

  1. Research Methods and Statistics discusses the concept of cultural factors in mental health research. How might this topic apply to Robert Heath’s experiment on psychosurgery on African-Americans? What is the current application of this study?

  1. Based on the information you read from Standard 8 of the APA Code of Ethics (Research & Publication), which ethical principles do you think apply to the current study of optogenetics?

(transcript)

WHY DO WE DO THE THINGS WE DO? WHAT REALLY MAKES US TICK? HOW DO OUR MINDS WORK? FOR CENTURIES THESE QUESTIONS WERE LARGELY LEFT TO PHILOSOPHERS AND THEOLOGIANS. THEN ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO A NEW SCIENCE BEGAN TO SHINE A BRIGHT LIGHT ON THE INNER WORKINGS OF THE MIND. IT WAS CALLED EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.IN THIS SERIES I'M TRACING THE HISTORY OF HOW THIS NEW SCIENCE REVEALED THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES THAT WERE SURPRISING AND OFTEN PROFOUNDLY SHOCKING. THE EXPERIMENT REQUIRES THAT WE CONTINUE. BUT HE MIGHT BE DEAD IN THERE! IN THIS FILM I'M INVESTIGATING THE INVENTIVE, SOMETIMES BARBARIC WAYS PSYCHOLOGY HAS BEEN USED TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE PEOPLE. HOW DOES IT FEEL, GOOD OR BAD? GOOD. IT'S A SCIENCE WHICH STRIKES AT THE HEART OF WHAT WE HOLD MOST DEAR: OUR FREE WILL. I DON'T THINK PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE THEIR BEHAVIORTINKERED WITH AND TOLD WHAT TO DO.THE PURSUIT OF MIND CONTROL LED TO SOME TRULY HORRIFIC EXPERIMENTS AND LEFT MANY CASUALTIES IN ITS WAKE. I ONLY REMEMBER THAT I FORGET EVERYTHING.BUT INVESTIGATING THE FORCES THAT SHAPE OUR MINDS AND OUR BEHAVIOR HAVE ALSO LED TO PROFOUND INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE BRAIN WORKS. EVER SINCE I WAS A MEDICAL STUDENT I HAVE BEEN FASCINATED BY PSYCHOLOGY, BY WHAT IT HAS REVEALED ABOUT OURSELVES AND BYHOW FAR SOME RESEARCHERS HAVE BEEN PREPARED TO GO. I'M ON MY WAY TO CARDIFF AND I'M FEELING APPREHENSIVE.I'M ABOUT TO TAKE A "CLASS A" HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG. IN THE PAST, THIS DRUG AND OTHERS LIKE IT WERE USED INEXPERIMENTS WHICH WERE DESIGNED WITH A VERY SINISTER PURPOSE: TO ACHIEVE TOTAL MIND CONTROL. THE DRUG I'M GOING TO BE GIVEN IS PSILOCYBIN, THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT OF MAGIC MUSHROOMS. NORMALLY, TAKING PSILOCYBIN WOULD BE ILLEGAL BUT IN THIS CASE, PROFESSOR DAVID NUTT AND HIS TEAM FROM IMPERIAL COLLEGE ARE DOING A SCIENTIFIC STUDY, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE UK. AM I GOING TO ENJOY THIS? I THINK SO. MOST PEOPLE GET SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM IT. YOU'VE HAD NO BAD REACTION SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO FEEL. IT'S JUST A BIT ODD THE IDEA OF HAVING YOURCONSCIOUSNESS PLAYED WITH. YOU DO IT ALL THE TIME, DON'T YOU, EVERY TIME YOU GO OUT AND GET DRUNK? THE TEAM ARE EXPECTING PSILOCYBIN TO HAVE ASIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ME SO I'M PUT THROUGH PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS. WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A SPIRITUAL PERSON? A BIT. AND WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A MYSTICAL PERSON? NO. I'M GOING TO PREPARE THE DRUG NOW. THAT TINY AMOUNT IN THERE, CAN YOU SEE IT? JUST. THAT'S 3.5 MILLIGRAMS SO YOU GET TWO MILLIGRAMS.THAT'S GOING TO BE IT? THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL IT IS, BUT IT DOES QUITE A LOT.SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, DAVID NUTT BELIEVES THAT BY CHANGING THE BRAIN, PSILOCYBIN'S MIND BENDING PROPERTIESMAY HELP PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS LIKE DEPRESSION. BEFORE THEY TEST IT ON PATIENTS THE TEAM WANT TO FIND OUTEXACTLY HOW IT ACTS ON NORMAL BRAINS LIKE MINE. IT CAN BE QUITE DRAMATIC. THE LAST VOLUNTEER HAD QUITE A DRAMATIC RESPONSE AND SAID IT WAS THE STRANGEST EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE. HE SAID THAT HIS WHOLE SENSE OF SELF DISSOLVED AND HE ONLY EXISTED AS A CONCEPT. I'M NOT SURE I WISH TO ONLY EXIST AS A CONCEPT, BUT WE SHALL SEE. I AM STARTING TO WONDER WHAT SORT OF TRIP I'M GOING TO HAVE. I'M PLACED IN A BRAIN SCANNER SO THE TEAM CAN MAP IN DETAIL HOW MY BRAIN REACTS TO PSILOCYBIN. THEN THE DRUG IS INJECTED.THE RESULT? WELL, IT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST AND MOST UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE. TODAY, DRUGS ARE AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF MIND CONTROL BUT DOWN THE YEARS SCIENTISTS HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITHMORE UNUSUAL WAYS TO MANIPULATE OUR BRAINS. THERE IS A LONG AND MURKY HISTORY BEHIND SCIENTIFIC ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL EMOTIONS, BEHAVIOR, AND DECISION MAKING. I THINK SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE TRACEDTO AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY BY A RUSSIAN MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO. IN THE 1890'S BIOLOGIST IVAN PAVLOV WAS STUDYING DOGS, MANY OF WHICH HAD BEEN SNATCHED OFF THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG. HIS EARLY EXPERIMENTS SEEMED TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITHMIND CONTROL. HE WAS STUDYING REFLEXES IN ANIMALS. PAVLOV WAS INTERESTED IN SALIVA AND IN PARTICULAR HOW MUCH SALIVA IS PRODUCED WHEN YOU EAT DIFFERENT SORTS OF FOODS. HE STUDIED IT IN DOGS. HE OPERATED ON HIS DOGS SO THAT HE COULD ACCURATELYMEASURE THE SALIVA THEY PRODUCED WHEN THEY SAW FOOD. TO PAVLOV'S IMMENSE SURPRISE HE DISCOVERED THAT THE DOGS WOULD SALIVATE NOT JUST WHEN THEY GOT THE FOOD BUT WHEN THEY SIMPLY SAW THE MEN IN WHITE COATS WHO BROUGHT THEM THE FOOD. THIS WAS UTTERLY UNEXPECTED. PAVLOV REALIZED THAT HIS DOGS HAD MADE AN ASSOCIATIONBETWEEN THE LAB COAT AND THE ARRIVAL OF FOOD. IT WAS THIS ASSOCIATION RATHER THAN THE FOOD ITSELF THAT PRODUCED THE SALIVA REFLEX. PAVLOV WANTED TO TRAIN OTHER RESPONSES AND AS HE DID SO HIS EXPERIMENTS BECAME INCREASINGLY BRUTAL. IN THIS EXPERIMENT THE BEAT OF THE METRONOME IS COMBINED WITH AN ELECTRIC SHOCK. OH, POOR DOG. THE ELECTRIC SHOCK IS GIVEN A NUMBER OF TIMES UNTIL THE BEAT OF THE METRONOME ALONE IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE THE DOG TO JUMP. THE PAVLOVIAN RESPONSE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS DISCOVERIES IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. WHAT IS LESS WELL KNOWN IS THAT PAVLOV DIDN'T CONFINE HIMSELF TO DOGS. DISTURBINGLY, HE WAS ALSO INVOLVED WITH EXPERIMENTS ON CHILDREN. LIKE THE DOGS, SOME OF THE CHILDREN APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN OPERATED ON. IT'S REALLY VERY HORRIBLE.THEY FEED HIM JUST LIKE THE DOG AND THEY'RE COLLECTING THE SALIVA IN HERE.HE DID NOT LOOK HAPPY. IN THIS EXPERIMENT A CHILD IS FED COOKIES THROUGH A TUBE. THE EXPERIMENTER ACTIVATES A DEVICE TO SQUEEZE THECHILD'S WRIST AND AT THE SAME MOMENT RELEASES A COOKIE. LIKE THE DOGS, THE CHILD SOON DEVELOPS A CONDITIONED REFLEX. WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT HE OPENS HIS MOUTH WHENEVER THE DEVICE IS SQUEEZED. HE'S CHOMPING AWAY AS THOUGH HE'S ANTICIPATING THE COOKIE.LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A SCIENCE FICTION FILM. HARD TO IMAGINE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED. THESE EXPERIMENTS ARE VERY DISTRESSING. BUT THROUGH THEM PAVLOV WAS ABLE TO SHOW THAT HUMAN REFLEXES CAN BE CONDITIONED JUST AS EASILY AS DOGS. ACCORDING TO PAVLOV OUR REFLEXES START BEINGCONDITIONED FROM THE MOMENT WE ARE BORN. AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH LIFE MORE AND MORE OF THESE CONDITIONED REFLEXES ARE IMPLANTED IN OUR BRAINS,BUILDING UP COMPLEX BEHAVIORS. AND ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE BASICS OF HOW THOSE BEHAVIORS ARE LAID DOWN,WELL, PERHAPS YOU CAN BEGIN TO ALSO CONTROL THEM. PAVLOV'S DISCOVERIES ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO MIND CONTROL BUT THEY ARE LIMITED. THEY ONLY CONDITION BEHAVIORS THAT ALREADY EXIST. BY THE TIME PAVLOV DIED IN THE MID 1930'S NEW TECHNIQUES HAD BEEN DEVELOPED IN AMERICA THAT PROMISED FAR MORE SOPHISTICATED MIND MANIPULATION.THESE METHODS ALSO HELD THE ENTICING POSSIBILITY OF BEING USED ON A GRAND SCALE. THE MAN BEHIND THESE DEVELOPMENTS WAS SO CONTROVERSIAL THAT HE WAS HUNG IN EFFIGY. THE VICE PRESIDENT DESCRIBED HIM AS "MOST DANGEROUS" AND THE FBI KEPT A DETAILED FILE ON HIM. I'M HERE TO MEET DEBRA BUZAN, DAUGHTER OF B.F. SKINNER... ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS SCIENTISTS IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. HELLO. NICE TO MEET YOU.HE'S RECEIVING AN HONORARY DEGREE AT HARVARD HERE. HE WAS TERRIBLY PROUD OF THAT. AND HERE HE IS WITH A RAT. THIS AGAIN IS THE MACHINE BEHIND WITH A GAZILLION WIRES AND THINGS. IT'D BE ALL DONE VERY DIFFERENTLY TODAY. THAT'S MY FATHER PUTTING THE PIGEON INTOWHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE SKINNER BOX. THE KEY TO SKINNER'S RESEARCH WAS THE SO-CALLED SKINNER BOX. HE USED IT TO CREATE NEW BEHAVIOR. IN THIS SKINNER BOX A PIGEON IS GIVEN A REWARD EVERY TIME IT PECKS THE WORD "PECK" OR TURNS FULL CIRCLE WHEN IT SEES THE WORD "TURN" APPEAR. THE PIGEON HAS LEARNED THAT WHEN IT PERFORMS THESE ACTIONS IT GETS FOOD SO IT CONTINUES TO DO THEM. AS IT DOES SO, THIS NEW BEHAVIOR IS REINFORCED. THIS PIGEON EXPERIMENT, AND MANY LIKE IT,DEMONSTRATED GRAPHICALLY THAT CAREFULLY TIMED REWARDS CAN REINFORCE, CHANGE, OR EVEN CREATE NEW BEHAVIORS. DEBORAH IS USING HER FATHER'S TECHNIQUE TO TRAIN HER CATS TO PLAY THE PIANO. LOLA'S NOT EXACTLY A VIRTUOSO BUT SHE HAS LEARNED THAT A LITTLE TINKLE EARNS A PIECE OF CHICKEN. I LIKE THE FACT SHE CHANGES NOTES, THOUGH. OOH, THAT WAS GOOD.TEACHING ANIMALS CUTE TRICKS IS HARDLY CONTROVERSIAL BUT SKINNER HAD DEFINED A PRECISE AND POWERFUL WAYOF MODIFYING BEHAVIOR AND SAID IT SHOULD BE USED ON HUMANS. HE WANTED TO APPLY HIS SCIENTIFIC METHODS OFPSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION TO WHOLE POPULATIONS. HE WAS REALLY ESSENTIALLY TELLING PEOPLE HOW TO BEHAVE, HOW TO ACT, MAYBE HOW TO CREATE A WORLD IN WHICH PEOPLE WOULD ACT DIFFERENTLY FROM THE WAY THEY ALREADY ACTED AND I DON'T THINK PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE THEIR BEHAVIOR TINKERED WITH. I DON'T THINK THEY LIKE TO BE TOLD WHAT TO DO. SKINNER BELIEVED THAT MANY OF THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIETY COULD BE IMPROVED IF A RULING ELITE WERE TO USE HIS METHODS TO CONTROL BEHAVIOR. USING THEM WOULD REDUCE VIOLENCE AND IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY. SKINNER'S PSYCHOLOGICALLY CONTROLLED SOCIETYBRUSHED ASIDE AN INDIVIDUAL'S ROLE IN DETERMINING AND SHAPING THEIR OWN DESTINY. HE SAW BELIEF IN FREE WILL AS UNSCIENTIFIC NONSENSE. THESE VIEWS POLARIZED OPINION. ON THE 3RD OF MAY 1972, THE SAME DAY THAT SIX THOUSAND STUDENTS CHEERED HIM ON IN MICHIGAN,HE WAS HUNG IN EFFIGY AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY. HE VERY MUCH WANTED TO GET ACROSS HIS MESSAGE. I DON'T KNOW IF HE EXPECTED SUCH A RECEPTION

- WHICH WAS NOT ALL GOOD, OF COURSE -BUT CERTAINLY MADE PEOPLE SIT UP AND THINK. SKINNER'S UTOPIA NEVER MATERIALIZED BUT HIS METHODS OF BEHAVIOR CONTROL ARE NOW WIDELY USED IN EVERYDAY LIFE. THEY HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY INFLUENTIAL IN THE WORLD OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT WHERE THE USE OF WELL TARGETED REWARDS TO ENCOURAGE GOOD BEHAVIOR HAS BECOMEAN ESTABLISHED PARENTING TECHNIQUE.SKINNER BELIEVED PASSIONATELY THAT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION COULD AND SHOULD BE USED TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. BUT IN THE 1950'S WHEN HE WAS DEVELOPING HIS IDEAS RESEARCH INTO MIND CONTROL HAD ALREADY TAKENA MORE SINISTER TURN, FUELED BY THE RUTHLESS NEEDS OF WAR. BY THEN AMERICA WAS FIGHTING THE COMMUNISTS IN KOREA. AS THE CONFLICT RAGED A SINISTER NEW WEAPON EMERGED. I DID SIGN A CONFESSION RELATING TO GERM WARFARE. IT FIRST CAME TO LIGHT WHEN THE NORTH KOREANS PARADED THEIR AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR. HOW CAN I GO BACK AND FACE MY FAMILY? IN A CIVILIZED WORLD, HOW CAN I TELL THEM THESE THINGS? I AM A CRIMINAL IN THE EYES OF HUMANITY. THEY ARE MY FLESH AND BLOOD. THESE IMAGES REALLY DISTURBED PEOPLE. AMERICAN SOLDIERS DENOUNCING AMERICAN AGGRESSION.HOW HAD THE NORTH KOREANS DONE IT?HOW HAD THEY IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME MANAGED TO CONVERT THEM TO THE COMMUNIST CAUSE? HOW CAN I GO BACK AND FACE MY FAMILY? THEY ARE MY FLESH AND BLOOD. I DID SIGN A CONFESSION... THIS WAS A TERRIFYING NEW WEAPON THAT THREATENED THE FREEDOM OF THE WEST AND THEY GAVE THIS WEAPON A NAME: BRAINWASHING. A HUGE EFFORT WAS MADE TO TRY AND UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE COMMUNIST BRAINWASHERS. IN BRITAIN AN AMBITIOUS PSYCHIATRIST SOON BECAMECONVINCED HE KNEW HOW IT WAS DONE.HIS NAME WAS WILLIAM SARGANT AND HIS RADICAL APPROACH TO PSYCHIATRY INSPIRED BOTH LOYALTY AND LOATHING.HE ONCE SAID OF HIMSELF, "SOME PEOPLE SAY I'M A WONDERFUL DOCTOR, OTHERS THAT I AM THE WORK OF THE DEVIL".SARGANT HAD A THEORY ON BRAINWASHING AND IT WAS BASED ON THE WORK OF NONE OTHER THAN IVAN PAVLOV.SARGANT HAD READ ABOUT ONE OF PAVLOV'S LESSER KNOWN EXPERIMENTS IN WHICH HE TRIED TO REMOVE HIS DOG'S CONDITIONING. TYPICALLY PAVLOV HAD NOT GONE FOR HALF MEASURES. HE HAD INDUCED NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS IN HIS DOGS AND FOUND THAT THIS RAPIDLY AND DRAMATICALLY REMOVED THE CONDITIONED BEHAVIOR HE HAD SO PAINSTAKINGLY CREATED. PAVLOV CONCLUDED THAT, DURING THE BREAKDOWN, ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS IN THE DOGS' BRAINS WERE LOST. WHEN THE BRAIN REWIRED ITSELF IT MADE NEW CONNECTIONS LEADING TO DRAMATIC CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR. SARGANT THOUGHT THAT PAVLOV'S WORK WAS CENTRAL TO UNDERSTANDING BRAINWASHING - HOW SOMEBODY COULDCHANGE THEIR CORE BELIEFS IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. JUST AS WITH THE DOGS, SARGANT BELIEVED THAT WHEN A HUMAN BRAIN IS BROKEN DOWNCONNECTIONS ARE LOST WHICH THEN NEED TO BE REBUILT. HE DECIDED TO USE THIS INSIGHT AS THE BASIS OF A RADICAL TREATMENT FOR MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS.HIS AIM WAS SIMPLE; TO BREAK DOWN AND THEN REPROGRAM THEIR TROUBLED MINDS. MARY THORNTON WAS 21 WHEN SHE WAS ADMITTED UNDER SARGANT'S CARE.MY MEMORIES ARE LIKE SNAPSHOTS AND ONE IS OF THE ELECTRODES BEING TOUCHED TO THE SIDE OF MY HEAD, BEING GIVEN A GENERAL ANESTHETIC, SEEING AN IMAGE OF MYSELF IN THE MIRROR ONE DAY,SEEING A STRANGE FACE LOOKING BACK AT MYSELF AND BEING REALLY FRIGHTENED THAT I WOULD NEVER GET OUT. FORTY YEARS ON, MARY HAS RETURNED TO THE ROYAL WATERLOO HOSPITAL IN LONDON; ONCE PART OF SAINT THOMAS'S. ONE OF THESE ROOMS IS THE ROOM I RECOVERED IN AND IT WAS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT ROOM, IT COULD HAVE BEEN A ROOM EXACTLY LIKE THAT. MARY'S PARENTS HAD ADMITTED HER TO THE HOSPITAL FOLLOWING A SERIES OF ROWS OVER A NEW BOYFRIEND. I UNDERSTOOD THAT I WAS THERE TO BE TREATED FOR AN ACUTE ANXIETY STATE AND I WAS TOLD I WOULD BE GIVEN SLEEP TREATMENT TO HELP MY HEAD TO HAVE A NICE LONG REST. MARY AND OTHER PATIENTS BECAME UNWITTING GUINEA PIGSTESTING SARGANT'S MORE RADICAL IDEAS.EVERY AVAILABLE METHOD IS USED HERE, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. SARGANT BELIEVED IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO USE A WIDE RANGEOF APPROACHES IF HE WAS TO BREAK DOWN ESTABLISHED PATTERNS OF THINKING. HE BEGAN WITH A PROCESS OF MODIFIED NARCOSIS. PATIENTS WERE PUT INTO A MEDICATED SLEEP FOR UP TO THREE MONTHS. THE PATIENTS ARE WOKEN THREE TIMES A DAY FOR FEEDING AND TO CHECK ON WHETHER THEY'RE GETTING BETTER. THEY WERE THEN GIVEN COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF DRUGS COMBINED WITH BOUTS OF ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY, OR ECT. 110 VOLTS FOR THREE SECONDSTHROUGH THE FRONTAL LOBES OF THE BRAIN. SARGANT WAS CONVINCED HE HAD TO USE ALL THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO HIM IF HE WAS TO WIPE THE SLATE CLEAN. HE HAD ALSO SUFFERED FROM DEPRESSION AND KNEW IT COULD BE LIFE THREATENING SO THE RISKS WERE WORTH IT. IN ALL MY THIRTY YEARS I'VE TRIED NEVER TO USEANY METHOD THAT I WOULDN'T USE ON MYSELF. ALL THAT MATTERS IS DON'T DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE TO YOURSELF. FOR MANY PATIENTS LIKE MARY THIS BARRAGE OF TREATMENTSHAD A DRAMATIC EFFECT ON THEIR MINDS. I ONLY REMEMBER THAT I FORGET EVERYTHING AND THAT'S WHAT ECT MADE YOU DO. IN THIS BUILDING I SAW HER MAYBE FOUR TIMES, I VISITED MAYBE FOUR TIMESAND SHE PROGRESSIVELY GOT LESS AWARE OF WHO I WAS. ON ONE OCCASION SHE DIDN'T KNOW ME FROM ADAM. AFTER THREE MONTHS AT THE ROYAL WATERLOO MARY WAS DISCHARGED. SARGANT'S BELIEF THAT HER BRAIN, SHAKEN AND SHOCKED,WOULD REASSEMBLE ITSELF FREE FROM THE SHACKLES OF HER PAST, WAS WRONG.WHEN I LEFT I HAD GREAT BIG BLACK HOLES IN MY MEMORY AND I WAS SENT TO CONVALESCE TO MY BROTHER IN YORKSHIRE. A WEEK OR SO INTO MY STAY I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED THAT I HAD A BOYFRIEND AND I FOUND HIS TELEPHONE NUMBER AND I PHONED HIM UP AND HE CAME TO MEET ME IN LONDON AND WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER EVER SINCE. TWO THOUSAND MILLIGRAMS? YES. SARGANT HAD SHOWN THAT WITH DRUGS AND ECT HE COULD DISRUPT AND DESTROY MEMORIES.YET WITH PATIENTS LIKE MARY HE FAILED TO BREAK PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AND ALTER PERSONAL BELIEFS. THE HUMAN MIND HAD PROVED REMARKABLY RESILIENT TO CHANGE. SARGANT'S THEORIES ON BRAINWASHING WERE FLAWED AND REJECTED BY MANY BRITISH PSYCHIATRISTS. BUT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN THE UNITED STATES THE FRANTIC SEARCH TO LEARN THE SECRETS OF COMMUNIST MIND CONTROL CONTINUED UNABATED. IN RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF BRAINWASHING THE CIA HAD SET UP THEIR OWN SECRET OPERATION, CODE NAME "MK ULTRA". MK ULTRA EMPLOYED MANY OF THE LEADING SCIENTISTS OF THE DAY AND FROM 1953 THEY EMBARKED ON A SERIES OF INCREASINGLY BIZARRE EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED TO REPLICATE THE COMMUNIST BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUES. THEY SUBJECTED PEOPLE TO SENSORY DEPRIVATION, TOTAL ISOLATION, ELECTRIC SHOCKS. ONE RESEARCH AREA THAT SEEMED PROMISING WAS DRUGS AND ONE CLASS OF DRUG STOOD OUT FROM ALL THE REST. THEY SEEMED TO CHANGE THE WORLD. THEY DISTORTED VISION AND THEY WARPED SOUND. THEY CREATED VIVID HALLUCINATIONS. HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS LIKE LSD AND PSILOCYBIN HAD ONLY RECENTLY BEEN DISCOVERED AND WERE THE SUBJECT OF INTENSE RESEARCH. THEY HELD OUT THE ENTICING POSSIBILITY OF CONTROLLING ANOTHER PERSON'S MIND.PERHAPS THEY COULD ALSO CHANGE YOUR CORE BELIEFS. THE TOP SECRET OPERATIVES FROM MK ULTRAEXPERIMENTED ON THEMSELVES, THEIR COLLEAGUES, AND ON UNSUSPECTING MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. AND THE AMERICAN MILITARY ALSO ATTEMPTED TO HARNESS THEIR MIND BENDING POWERS.HOW DO YOU FEEL? I COULD RUN 100 MILES RIGHT NOW. IS THAT RIGHT? YOU'RE PRETTY PEPPED UP, HUH? BUT WHILE THE DRUGS WERE CERTAINLY MIND ALTERING,THEY WERE USELESS AS A FORM OF BRAINWASHING. THE EFFECTS WERE TOO TEMPORARY, TOO UNPREDICTABLE TO RELIABLY ALTER AN INDIVIDUAL. THE HUGE EFFORT TO PRODUCE A FOOLPROOF METHOD OF BRAINWASHING HAD FAILED,AND FOLLOWING THE END OF THE KOREAN WAR IT EMERGED THAT COMMUNIST TECHNIQUES WERE ALSO FLAWED. MANY OF THE SOLDIERS WHO HAD DENOUNCED AMERICA WHILE IN CAPTIVITY REDISCOVERED THEIR PATRIOTISM WHEN THEY GOT HOME. BRAINWASHING TURNED OUT TO BE AN ILLUSORY WEAPON OF WAR.FOR MANY YEARS THERE WAS DIMINISHED SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN THE MIND ALTERING PROPERTIES OF HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS. NOW, HALF A CENTURY ON, THINGS ARE CHANGING. AS PART OF AN EXPERIMENT I HAVE BEEN INJECTED WITH PSILOCYBIN, THE ACTIVE COMPONENT OF MAGIC MUSHROOMS.PROFESSOR NUTT AND HIS TEAM LOOK ONAS THE DRUG RACES THROUGH MY SYSTEM. THEY WANT TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THE DRUG WORKS ON MY BRAIN. A TEN ON THAT SCALE IS EXTREMELY INTENSE. HOW ANXIOUS HE FEELS NOW.HE'LL BE HALLUCINATING CERTAINLY. HE MIGHT BE SEEING COLORS AND SWIRLING PATTERNS. PROBABLY SOME BODILY FEELINGS AS WELL, HIS BODY MIGHT FEEL SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. MAYBE A KIND OF FLOATING SENSATION. INSIDE THE MACHINE I WAS CONVINCED I COULD LEVITATE, MAKE THE WALLS OF THE SCANNER DISSOLVE,AND FLY UP TO THE STARS AT SUPERSONIC SPEED. IT WAS ALL RATHER BEAUTIFUL.OKAY, MICHAEL, WE'RE ALL FINISHED.ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF PSILOCYBINHAD LARGELY WORN OFF, I HAD AN UNCONTROLLABLE URGE TO TALK AND TALK... THAT WAS VERY STRANGE I HAVE TO SAY BECAUSE IT WAS SORT OF, I THOUGHT WHOA! AND THEN WHEW! IT WAS REALLY SORT OF A "WHOOSH" TAKE-OFF MOMENT.AND TALK.... AND TALK. IT SORT OF TOOK ME BACK TO WHEN I WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD AND I USED TO RUB MY EYEBALLS IN AN ATTEMPT TO HAVE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. YOU FELT IT WHEN IT CAME. IT WAS JUST LIKE BEING IN A SORT OF STAR TREK THING, LIKE GOING INTO HYPERSPACE. THEN WOO! AS SOON AS YOU START THINKING EVEN SLIGHTLY BAD THOUGHTS THEN YOU THINK "I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE" AND ACTUALLY DRAGGING YOURSELF BACK FROM IT IS VERY DIFFICULT. BUT YES, IT WAS DEFINITELY STRANGE BUT YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE. YOU WANT TO SAY "HELLO!" MY RESULTS WILL BE MERGED WITH SCANS FROM OTHER VOLUNTEERS TO IDENTIFY THE PRECISE AREAS INSIDE THE BRAIN WHERE THE DRUG IS ACTIVE. AND YOU SEE THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY THREE BIG BLUE BLOCKS. WHAT BLUE MEANS IS THAT THE ACTIVITY OF THE BRAIN, THE BLOOD FLOW HAS SHUT DOWN; AND WE THOUGHT - WHEN WE WENT INTO THIS STUDY WE THOUGHT THIS DRUG WOULD ACTIVATE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BRAIN TO THOSE BUT WE DON'T FIND ANY ACTIVATION ANYWHERE. ALL WE FIND ARE REDUCTIONS IN BLOOD FLOW. DAVID NUTT BELIEVES THAT THE AREAS OF THE BRAINTHAT ARE BEING SWITCHED OFF ARE CRITICAL TO THE EXPERIENCE I'D JUST HAD.THE BLOBS IN THE MIDDLE ARE THE PART OF THE BRAIN THAT TELL US WHO AND WHAT WE ARE. WHEN THESE WERE DAMPENED DOWN I WAS RELEASED FROM EVERYDAY CONSTRAINTS. YOU WERE ABLE TO BREAK FREE FROM THE NORMAL CONSTRAINTS OF WHAT YOU ARE WHICH IS, I'M A FATHER, I'VE GOT TO GET HOME IN AN HOUR AND A HALF, I'VE GOT TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM. THE FACT IT DAMPENS ACTIVITY IN THESE AREAS MAY PROVIDE CLUES AS TO HOW PSILOCYBIN COULD BE USED TO TREAT DEPRESSION. AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE THINK IS THAT IN CONDITIONSLIKE DEPRESSION OR MAYBE OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER WHERE PEOPLE GET LOCKED INTO A MINDSET WHICH IS MALADAPTIVE, THESE REGIONS MAY BE OVERACTIVE. SO MAYBE DAMPENING THOSE DOWN WILL HELP PEOPLE MOVE INTO ANOTHER MINDSET WHICH MIGHT BE BETTER. SO IF YOU WANTED TO SHIFT SOMEBODY WHO'S PROFOUNDLY DEPRESSED, HAS THAT MINDSET,SOMETHING LIKE THIS MIGHT CONCEIVABLY... IT'S CONCEIVABLE, ABSOLUTELY. WE NEED TO DO THE EXPERIMENTS BUT THAT'S PART OF THE RATIONALE, THAT IT HELPS TAKE YOU FROM THIS RIGID, MOTOR-IC PROCESS OF THINKING INTO SOMETHING THAT MAY ACTUALLY BE MORE POSITIVE. THE IDEA THAT YOU COULD USE A PSYCHEDELIC DRUG LIKE PSILOCYBIN TO TREAT DEPRESSION IS CERTAINLY SURPRISING. IF IT WORKS, THEN ONE ADVANTAGE IS IT WORKS FAST. WELL, YOU CHANGED IMMEDIATELY... WHETHER IT WOULD PRODUCE IMMEDIATE CHANGES IN A DEPRESSED PERSON WE DON'T KNOW BUT IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL, WOULDN'T IT?PARTICULARLY IF YOU COULD HOLD ON TO THOSE AND MAINTAIN THEM. IT MAY TURN OUT THAT HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS DO HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN MIND CONTROL.BUT AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL TO HELP PATIENTS THINK MORE POSITIVELY IT'S A FAR CRY FROM THE AMBITIONS OF WOULD-BE BRAIN WASHERS. IN THE 1960'S A NEW DISCOVERY WOULD UNCOVER A FAR MOREPERVASIVE AND EFFECTIVE WAY OF CONTROLLING PEOPLE. IT WAS FAR MORE SUBTLE AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE. BUT HE MIGHT BE DEAD IN THERE.THE NEW APPROACH EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PRESSURE, OF THE SOCIAL CONTEXT YOU FIND YOURSELF IN. TO FIND OUT MORE, PSYCHOLOGISTS DEVISED ELABORATE HUMAN EXPERIMENTS,SOMETIMES WITH SHOCKING RESULTS. ♪THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS FROM EASTERN EUROPE, STANLEY MILGRAM WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHY SO MANY PEOPLE TOOK PART IN THE PERPETRATION OF TERRIBLE WAR CRIMES. MILGRAM WAS CURIOUS TO FIND OUT WHAT DROVE GERMAN SOLDIERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HOLOCAUST. HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE, I ASKED MYSELF, THAT ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO WERE COURTEOUS AND DECENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE CAN ACT CALLOUSLY,INHUMANELY, WITHOUT ANY LIMITATIONS OF CONSCIENCE? MILGRAM DESCRIBED THE MOMENT HE CONCEIVED HIS EXPERIMENTAS INCANDESCENT. IT WAS BEAUTIFULLY, ALMOST FIENDISHLY DESIGNED TO REVEAL UNCOMFORTABLE FLAWS ABOUT HUMAN NATURE. IT MADE A HUGE IMPACT WORLDWIDE. I REMEMBER AS A TEENAGER READING ABOUT IT AND THEN LATER WATCHING FOOTAGE AND IT HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT ON ME. IT INFLUENCED MY LATER DECISION TO TRAIN AS A DOCTOR WITH THE INTENTION OF BECOMING A PSYCHIATRIST. IT'S NEARLY 50 YEARS SINCE THE ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAND TODAY I'M FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE MEETING ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING SURVIVORS. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING. MICHAEL MOSLEY. HI MICHAEL, NICE TO MEET YOU. IN 1962 BILL MENOLD HAD RECENTLY LEFT THE ARMY AND WAS WORKING IN NEW HAVEN. I HAPPENED TO SEE AN AD IN THE NEW HAVEN REGISTERAND IT SAID "MEMORY AND LEARNING EXPERIMENT" AND THEY WERE GOING TO PAY YOU $4 AND I THOUGHT, WHY WOULDN'T I DO THIS? I'VE GOT SOME FOOTAGE HERE FROM YALE UNIVERSITY.BILL'S PARTICIPATION IN THE EXPERIMENT WASN'T FILMED BUT OTHER VOLUNTEERS WERE. THIS GUY HERE WAS THE... HE WAS THE PUPIL. AND THIS IS BASICALLY...? THE EXPERIMENTER. THE EXPERIMENT INVOLVED A TEACHER AND A LEARNER WHO WERE GIVEN A SIMPLE SET OF MEMORY TASKS. IF THE LEARNER GOT THE ANSWERS WRONG THE TEACHER HAD TO GIVE HIM ELECTRIC SHOCKS WHICH STEADILY INCREASED. WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN THEY STARTED TALKING ABOUT ELECTRIC SHOCKS? I WASN'T AGHAST OR ANYTHING BUT I WAS, OH, ELECTRIC SHOCK, WHAT A NOVEL WAY TO DO IT. WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'LL THINK OF NEXT? WHAT BILL AND THE OTHER VOLUNTEERS WEREN'T TOLDWAS THAT THE ELECTRIC SHOCKS WERE FAKE AND THAT BOTH THE EXPERIMENTER AND THE LEARNER WERE IN FACT ACTORS.THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIMENT WAS TO SEE HOW MANY ELECTRIC SHOCKSTHE VOLUNTEERS LIKE BILL WOULD ADMINISTER. VERY CONVINCING, ISN'T HE?ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION. BILL AND THE OTHER VOLUNTEERS WERE ASKED TO INCREASE THE VOLTAGE EVERY TIME THE LEARNER GOT AN ANSWER WRONG. YOU WILL NOW GET A SHOCK OF 75 VOLTS. OW!180 VOLTS. OW! JUST HOW FAR CAN YOU GO ON THIS THING? DESPITE THE APPARENT PAIN THEY WERE INFLICTING,MOST CONTINUED TO INCREASE THE SHOCKS.

(BUZZ) INCORRECT.

(BUZZ) 150 VOLTS. AH! IF YOU WERE SITTING IN THAT CHAIR WITH THIS STUFF GOING ON,YOU KNOW, AND THE PRESSURE THAT YOU WERE UNDER, IT'S VERY HARD TO THINK CLEARLY. I'M UP TO 180 VOLTS. PLEASE CONTINUE, TEACHER. NEELEY, YOU'RE GONNA GET A SHOCK 180 VOLTS. OW!WHO'S GONNA TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THAT GENTLEMAN?I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS HERE. CONTINUE PLEASE.MILGRAM ASKED COLLEAGUES BEFOREHAND HOW MANY PEOPLE THEY THOUGHT WOULD ADMINISTER THE LETHAL 450 VOLT SHOCK. MOST SAID ABOUT 1% AND THOSE WOULD PROBABLY BE PSYCHOPATHS. 195 VOLTS. DANCE. AH! LET ME OUT OF HERE! SO THEN THEY REALLY CRANKED IT UP? IT WAS, I MEAN, YOU TALK ABOUT TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES. I'VE NEVER HAD ANYTHING BEFORE OR SINCE THAT WAS LIKE THAT. START WITH BLUE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. CONTINUE PLEASE, TEACHER. DID YOU AT ANY POINT THINK THAT PERHAPS YOU'D KILLED HIM? YEAH. WHEN HE STOPPED RESPONDING. THE EXPERIMENT REQUIRES THAT WE CONTINUE... DON'T THE MAN'S HEALTH MEAN ANYTHING? ...WHETHER THE LEARNER LIKES IT OR NOT. BUT HE MIGHT BE DEAD IN THERE! I SHUT OFF MY MORAL COMPASS.CONTINUE PLEASE. 435 VOLTS. BUT ONCE YOU MAKE THE DECISION, YOU'VE MADE YOUR DECISION AND SO LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD AND GET IT OVER WITH. THE ANSWER IS "HORSE", 450 VOLTS.NEXT WORDS. BILL, LIKE TWO-THIRDS OF THE VOLUNTEERS, GAVE THE LETHAL ELECTRIC SHOCK. I THOUGHT BILL WAS VERY HONEST, PARTICULARLY WHEN HE STARTED TALKING ABOUT THAT MOMENTWHEN HE ABANDONED HIS MORAL COMPASS AND HE HANDED OVER RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS ACTIONS TO THE EXPERIMENTER. AND I GUESS THAT'S REALLY WHAT MILGRAM DEMONSTRATED. WE LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE AUTONOMOUS CREATURES, THAT WE FOLLOW SOME SORT OF MORAL PRINCIPLES. BUT WHAT MILGRAM SHOWED IS THAT IN THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCESYOU CAN PERSUADE SOMEONE TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING. ACCORDING TO MILGRIM, BILL MENOLD AND THE OTHERPARTICIPANTS WHO HAD MINISTERED LETHAL SHOCKS WERE NOT PSYCHOPATHS.THEY HAD SIMPLY DEMONSTRATED A STRIKING WILLINGNESS TO OBEY AUTHORITY. IT WAS THIS WILLINGNESS TO OBEY AUTHORITY THAT SHAPED AND CONTROLLED THEIR BEHAVIOR. AH!MILGRAM SAID IT DIDN'T MATTER IF YOU WERE GERMAN OR AMERICAN, THE POWER OF AUTHORITY REMAINED THE SAME. NOW, ONE OF THE ILLUSIONS ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS THAT IT STEMS ENTIRELY FROM PERSONALITY OR CHARACTER. BUT SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY SHOWS US THAT OFTEN BEHAVIOR IS DOMINATED BY THE SOCIAL ROLES WE'RE ASKED TO PLAY. AS A MEANS OF CONTROL THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY CAN BE CHILLINGLY EFFECTIVE. BUT AUTHORITY ALONE WAS NOT ABLE TO DELIVER THE DREAM OF TOTAL MIND CONTROL. THERE WAS, HOWEVER, STILL ONE GROUP OF SCIENTISTS WHO BELIEVED THEY COULD CONTROL BEHAVIOR AND EMOTIONS WITH PINPOINT ACCURACY. TO DO SO THEY WOULD HAVE TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES TO GO DIRECTLY INTO THE BRAIN. ARE YOU SLEEPY OR AWAKE OR WHAT? I'M AWAKE.THE ORIGINS OF THIS APPROACH LIE IN A SERIES OF BIZARRE EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY AN AMBITIOUS DOCTOR IN THE AMERICAN DEEP SOUTH. PSYCHIATRIST ROBERT HEATH WAS A MAVERICK AND A PIONEER. FROM THE EARLY 1950'S ONWARDS IN NEW ORLEANS HE USED ELECTRODES TO STIMULATE AND ALSO TO MAP OUT HIS PATIENTS' BRAINS. JOHN GOETHE AND JAMES EATON WORKED WITH HEATH ON MANY OF HIS MORE AMBITIOUS EXPERIMENTS. HE WANTED TO BE A DISCOVERER. HE WANTED TO FIND A NEW PATH. BUT THERE WAS NO QUESTION THAT THERE WAS A LIGHT SIDE AND A DARK SIDE.I REALLY LOVED THE GUY BUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE YOU'RE VERY CLOSE TO THEM YOU SEE ALL SORTS OF WARTS AND HE HAD PLENTY OF WARTS.HEATH WAS NOT AFRAID OF CONTROVERSY. HE PASSIONATELY BELIEVED YOU HAD TO EXPERIMENT ON HUMANS TO MAKE TRULY SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS. HE CONDUCTED HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL RESEARCH IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. AT THE TIME THE CONSENT PROCESS WAS NOT AS RIGOROUS AS IT IS NOW. HIS GOAL WAS AMBITIOUS; TO SEE IF HE COULD ALTER BEHAVIOR BY STICKING ELECTRODES INTO PEOPLE'S BRAINS. HEATH WAS INSPIRED BY EXPERIMENTS THAT HAD BEEN DONE ON RATS. ELECTRODES WERE IMPLANTED DIRECTLY INTO AREAS OF THE RAT'S BRAIN BELIEVED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PLEASURE. WHEN THE RAT PRESSED THE LEVER IT STIMULATED THESE AREAS. THE SCIENTISTS FOUND THAT THIS PROCESS COULD DRAMATICALLY CHANGE THE RAT'S NORMAL BEHAVIOR. THIS RAT IS PREPARED TO RUN ACROSS AN ELECTRIFIED FLOORTO REACH THE LEVER, PRESS IT, AND GET A PLEASURE KICK. HEATH DECIDED TO TAKE THE EXTREME STEP OF TRYING THIS ON HUMANS. HOW DO YOU FEEL? LIKE COMING ON... LIKE SOMETHING COMING ON, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? THE DEPTH ELECTRODE PROCEDURE INVOLVED PLACING THESE VERY THIN WIRES THROUGH THE SKULL AND INTO PRECISELY LOCATED AREASTHOUGHT TO BE IMPORTANT IN THE REGULATION OF EMOTION. THIS IDEA THAT THE EMOTIONS ARE DEEP IN THE TEMPORAL LOBES RATHER THAN BEING ON THE SURFACE WAS AN IDEA SHARED BY MANYBUT HE'S THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY PUT A NEEDLE, PUT AN ELECTRODE IN THERE AND TURNED ON THE JUICE. CAN YOU KEEP PUSHING IT YOURSELF? YES, SIR. ALRIGHT, PUSH THIS BUTTON. THEY HAD THESE LITTLE BOXES AND THEY HAD THE ELECTRODES IN THEIR HEAD. WHENEVER THEY FELT THEY NEEDED A LITTLE GOOSE OR SOMETHING

- AGAIN, I'M SIMPLIFYING IT - BUT THEY COULD PRESS IT. HEATH'S EARLY PATIENTS WERE SCHIZOPHRENICS, SEVERE EPILEPTICS AND DEPRESSIVES. IT'S COMING ON. HOW DOES IT FEEL, GOOD OR BAD?GOOD. GOOD? YES, SIR. LIKE THE RATS, THESE HUMAN PATIENTS WERE ABLE TOSTIMULATE THEIR OWN BRAINS AND USE THIS PLEASURABLE SENSATION TO ALLEVIATE THEIR SYMPTOMS. I THINK IT'S SOMEWHAT OF A SEXY BUTTON. YEAH? I DON'T LIKE THAT. HEATH'S METHODS WERE PRIMITIVE BUT THEY DID PAVE THE WAY FOR SOME IMPORTANT MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS. TODAY THE TECHNIQUE OF DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION HAS BEEN REFINED AND IMPROVED AND IS NOW USEDTO TREAT A RANGE OF CONDITIONS. IT HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL FOR SUFFERERS OF PARKINSON'S. ELECTRODES ARE PLACED IN THE AREAS OF THE BRAINTHAT CONTROL MOVEMENT AND HELP TO REDUCE SYMPTOMS. HOWEVER, IN PLANTING ELECTRODES INVOLVES MAJOR SURGERY AND THE RISKS ARE CONSIDERABLE. ALTHOUGH IT IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT TO WHAT WENT BEFORE,ELECTRICAL STIMULATION IS STILL FAIRLY CRUDE. EVEN THE MOST CAREFULLY POSITIONED OF ELECTRODES STIMULATES A LARGE AREA OF BRAIN MATTERCONSISTING OF THOUSANDS OF CELLS.BUT JUST RECENTLY THE TECHNOLOGY HAS MOVED ON. HERE AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY THEY HAVE FOUND NEW WAYSTO MANIPULATE THE BRAIN AND CONTROL BEHAVIOR USING A TECHNIQUE CALLED OPTOGENETICS. WITH OPTOGENETICS SCIENTISTS CAN CONTROL THE BRAINSIMPLY USING LIGHT. I'M HERE TO MEET NEUROSCIENTIST GERHARD MEISENBERGWHO'S BEEN REFINING HIS TECHNIQUE ON FLIES. HELLO THERE. I GATHER YOU ARE LORD OF THE FLIES? IN SOME CIRCLES I AM, YES. AND HOW MANY FLIES DO YOU HAVE HERE? WE HAVEN'T REALLY COUNTED THEMBUT WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF VIALS LIKE THESE. EACH VIAL HAS MAYBE 50 TO 100 FLIES IN THEM SO YOU DO THE MATH... IT'S PROBABLY MILLIONS BUZZING AROUND IN THERE. YOU ARE LORD OF THE FLIES. YEAH.MEISENBERG EARNED HIS NICKNAME THROUGH HIS ABILITY TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE THE CHOICES FLIES MAKE.WE'VE COME QUITE FAR IN CONTROLLING NOT ONLY SIMPLE MOTOR ACTS OF THE ANIMALS BUT ACTUALLY THEIR PSYCHOLOGY IN RATHER PROFOUND WAYS.I DON'T THINK OF FLIES AS HAVING A PSYCHOLOGY. YOU JUST HAVEN'T WORKED WITH THEM LONG ENOUGH. I'D LOVE TO SEE IT IN ACTION. CAN WE? YEAH, LET'S TAKE A LOOK. CONTROLLING A FLY'S PSYCHOLOGY IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE, OF THE 200,000 OR SO CELLS THAT MAKE UP THEIR BRAINS, HE HAS MANAGED TO ISOLATE A FEW THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEARNING. WE DID FIND A PARTICULAR SMALL GROUP OF JUST 12 CELLS LYING IN THE CENTRAL BRAIN. THESE 12 CELLS DON'T DICTATE BEHAVIOR PER SE;THEY DICTATE WHETHER BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE CHANGED. AND DICTATING WHETHER THE BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE CHANGED IS A CRUCIAL PART OF LEARNING.MEISENBERG LIKENS THE ROLE OF THIS GROUP OF CELLS TO THAT OF A NAGGING CRITIC. CRITIC IS, IF YOU WISH, THE STRUCTURE THAT HOLDS THE KEY TO INTELLIGENCE. IT'S THE STRUCTURE THAT DECIDES WHETHER SOMETHING IS GOOD OR BAD, WHETHER IT'S RIGHT OR WRONG.SORT OF THE BRAIN'S VERSION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IF YOU'RE AN AUSTRIAN LIKE ME, OR THE SUPER-EGO IF YOU'RE FREUDIAN OR YOUR MOTHER IF YOU'RE JEWISH. MEISENBERG HAS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED HIS FLIES SO THAT HE CAN SWITCH ON THIS NEGATIVE, NAGGING, CRITICAL VOICE SIMPLY BY EXPOSING THEM TO BLUE LIGHT. WHEN THE BLUE LIGHT COMES ON THE CELL'S ACTIVATED AND THE FLIES START TO LEARN. THE FLIES ARE TAUGHT TO DISLIKE WHATEVER IS IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS WHEN THE BLUE LIGHT IS ON. THIS IS THEN STORED AS A BAD MEMORY. IN THIS EXPERIMENT THE FLIES ARE TAUGHT TO DISLIKE THE SMELL OF LICORICE. EACH OF THESE CHAMBERS CONTAINS JUST ONE FLY AND THE FLY WALKS UP AND DOWN THE LENGTH OF THE CHAMBER AND THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT HALF OF THE CHAMBER ARE EACH FILLED WITH A DIFFERENT ODOR. ONE OF THESE SMELLS A BIT LIKE, AS THEY SAY, A TENNIS SHOE IN JULY AND THE OTHER ONE A LITTLE BIT LIKE LICORICE. YOU CAN SEE THAT BEFORE OUR OPTOGENETIC INTERVENTION THE FLY JUST EXPLORES THE CHAMBER IN ITS ENTIRETY. THEY START OFF NOT CARING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER AND THEN YOU'RE GOING TO MANIPULATE THEIR CHOICE. EXACTLY.WHEN THE BLUE LIGHT IS SWITCHED ONTHE CHAMBER IS FLOODED WITH THE SMELL OF LICORICE. NOW THE EFFECT OF THIS LIGHT IS TO TURN ON THE 12 CELLS OF THE CRITIC IN THE FLY'S BRAIN AND THAT THEN LEADS TO THE IMPLANTATION OF MEMORY.WHEN THE BLUE LIGHT SWITCHES OFF THE CHAMBER RETURNS TO ITS ORIGINAL SMELLS. TENNIS SHOES ON THE LEFT, LICORICE ON THE RIGHT. SO NOW BECAUSE OF THAT BLUE LIGHT THE FLY HAS COME TOASSOCIATE THE SMELL OF LICORICE WITH SOMETHING IT DOESN'T LIKE, SOMETHING IT NEEDS TO AVOID, SOMETHING IT SHOULD AVOID. WHAT YOU SEE IS IT'S BACKTRACKING ALREADY. IT MADE A MISTAKE. IT STEPPED INTO THE ODOR OF LICORICE WHICH IS ON THE RIGHT AND NOW IT'S BACK IN TENNIS SHOE WHICH IS ON THE LEFT AND YOU SEE WHENEVER IT REACHES THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE TWO ODORS IT RECOILS. YOU CAN ALMOST SEE HOW IT GOES "AH! THIS IS AWFUL" AND TURNS AROUND. THE ABILITY OF OPTOGENETICS TO PINPOINT AND ACT ON VERY SPECIFIC CELLS IN THE BRAIN SUGGEST IT COULD BE USED IN THE FUTURE FOR MODIFYING HUMAN BEHAVIOR.I THINK THERE'S MEDICAL BENEFITS IN MANY POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS. THE NEURONS THAT MATTER FOR A PARTICULAR BRAIN FUNCTION, BE IT APPETITE CONTROL, MOOD, ANXIETY, SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS,ATTENTION, YOU NAME IT. BUT THERE ARE SOME MAJOR OBSTACLES TO OPTOGENETICALLY CONTROLLING HUMANS. I THINK IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S AROUND THE CORNER IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS BECAUSE, REMEMBER, FOR OPTOGENETICS TO WORK YOU WOULD HAVE TO GENETICALLY MODIFY THE BRAINAND A FLY NORMALLY DOESN'T MIND BUT I CERTAINLY WOULD IF YOU WANTED TO IMPLANT LIGHT RECEPTORS SOMEWHERE INTO MY BRAIN. NOW THAT REALLY WAS QUITE ASTONISHING, THE IDEA THAT YOU CAN CONTROL REALLY QUITE SOPHISTICATED BEHAVIOR IN A FLY JUST BY MANIPULATING 12 NEURONS. IT'S ASTONISHING AND ALSO SLIGHTLY WORRYING BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU WONDER WHETHER THE SAME IS TRUE OF HUMANS. BUT I THINK THAT BECAUSE HUMAN BRAINS ARE SO MUCH BIGGER ANDMORE COMPLEX THAN INSECT BRAINS IT IS GOING TO BE A LONG TIME, IF EVER, BEFORE TECHNOLOGY LIKE THAT IS APPLIED TO US. I'VE NO DOUBT THAT THE TECHNOLOGY USED TO STUDY THE BRAIN WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE AND THAT IN DOING SO WE WILL MAKE GIANT STRIDES IN UNDERSTANDING THE WORKINGS OF OUR OWN MINDS. BUT WHAT I FIND REASSURING IS THAT, ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO MANIPULATE OUR MINDS, THE HUMAN BRAIN HAS SO FAR PROVED TO BE TOO COMPLEX TO FINELY CONTROL, OUR PERSONALITIES TOO RESILIENT. DOWN THE YEARS THE BRAIN HAS BEEN PUSHED AROUND, PROBED, DRUGGED AND ELECTRIFIED BUT IT REMAINS IMPRESSIVELY HARD TO CONTROL AND I FIND THAT VERY COMFORTING.


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Just what I was looking for! Super helpful.

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