Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: DARPA on Your Mind

Chapter 2: Of Machines and Men

Chapter 3: Mind Games

Chapter 4: How to Think about the Brain

Chapter 5: Brain Reading

Chapter 6: Building Better Soldiers

Chapter 7: Enter the Nonlethals

Chapter 8: Toward an Ethics of Neurosecurity

Sources

Index

“Few people ever think about brain research as a national security discipline. This intriguing and provocative book lays out how neurotechnologies for brain analysis, repair, and enhancement can be multi-purpose and serve both good and nefarious functions. Moreno forces the reader to think about the possible dangers and the accompanying ethical issues that co-occur with the great potential benefits of accelerating neuroscience advances.”

-Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

“Fascinating, Clear-Headed, Optimistic, and lucidly written, Mind Wars makes a compelling yet nuanced case for scientific progress in the area of neurological enhancement and for the transparent collaboration of the academy and the military.”

-Sally Satel, M.D. resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute

“The Revolution in the neurosciences is drawing increasing attention from ethicists, policy experts, and the general public. But, one aspect of that revolution has elicited little notice or comment—how those charged with insuring the national security and the military dominance of their nations will utilize the growing understanding of the human brain to achieve these ends. The paucity of attention to this crucially important topic is now over. Mind Wars presents the science, outlines the potential applications of it for military and national security purposes, and sounds exactly the right cautionary warnings about where this enormously powerful merger of the brain sciences and biodefense might go. This will certainly be the source book on the ways in which neurobiology may rewrite the rules of warfare, spying, and intelligence collection in the twenty-first century.”

-Arthur L. Caplan, Ph.D., Emanuel &Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics,; chair, Department of Medical Ethics, and Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania.

On the Strategic Advantages of Enhancing the Brain and Nervous System

In a sense, all warfare ultimately happens between our ears. If opponents believe they have been defeated, then that becomes the reality, hence the military’s investment in psychological operations, such as propaganda leaflets and disinformation, despite their uncertain payoffs. But if targeted interventions are made possible by the greatly enhanced knowledge of the brain and nervous system now being generated at a feverish pace in our top neuroscience labs, complemented by ingenious new engineering and pharmacologic products, the battle of the brain will have truly begun.
 
The powers that can claim the advantage and establish a ‘neurotechnology gap’ between themselves and their adversaries will establish both tactical and strategic advantages that can render them dominant in the twenty-first century. 

On the Conflict Between Objective Scientific Research, Government Aims, and Highly Classified Conditions

The relationship between science and the national security state in the context of a war on terror is still unfolding. Unlike the post-World War II era, when scientists who had eagerly joined the war effort saw military-related funding as a continuation of their previous employment, today significant distance lies between much of the scientific establishment and defense organizations. First, science has many other funding sources, including venture capital, that were not important players in the 1950s. Second, cultural differences between scientists and military officials bring with them a degree of mutual skepticism, if not outright suspicion, that was not the case fifty years ago, before Vietnam and Watergate. Third, unlike the experience of physics with the atomic and hydrogen bomb projects, the life sciences have not had much experience with operating under highly classified conditions. Many important researchers and their institutions chafe under security constraints, including not only sequestering their data but also tightening rules on the handling of pathogens in their labs and limiting visas for graduate students from abroad.