ROBORAT hit the headlines in May 2002. By remotely controlling the movement of a rat using electrodes implanted in its head, researchers demonstrated an impressive understanding of the brain, at least for rodents. Yet this was also a chilling demonstration of a type of mind control previously confined to the realm of science fiction.
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…
