Brain hacking: a new reality?

By: Josh Leach

 

            Brain hacking is becoming a real possibility.  Advances in technology and scientists’ understanding of the human brain have made breaking into your mind as easy as putting on a headset.  Scientists are learning how to access information from a person’s mind.  Soon, they may even be able to manipulate thoughts and memories.

            Mind reading is becoming a reality due to the extensive research done by neural scientists.  Scientists have the technology to detect which parts of the brain are active and can infer the subject being thought about.  Emotiv, a technology company, is currently working on a headset to act as an interface with computers.  Katia Moskvitch, a writer for the BBC News Technology writes, “The headset, which was developed by Australian company Emotiv for the games industry, has been around for some time.”  Scientists can go further by measuring the chemicals in the brain.  When a person recognizes something, such as their bank pin number or the face of relative, a specific chemical signature and brain wave pattern occur.  Sebastian Anthony, a new technology investigator for the Extreme Tech website, writes, “To extract this information, the researchers rely on what’s known as the P300 response — a very specific brainwave pattern — that occurs when you recognize something that is meaningful (a person’s face), or when you recognize something that fits your current task (a hammer in the shed).”  The researches believe their findings could help better understand how memories are recorded.  However, mind reading could be easily abused.  In response to this news, Abby Aldridge, a senior at Seckman High School, said, “I don’t want people reading my thoughts or stealing my personal information.”  Shockingly soon, people may be able to literally hack into someone’s brain and retrieve all the personal information they desire.

            Scientists are close to going beyond just reading memories; they will be able to manipulate them.  According to Storyleak, a news website, “There’s a frightening new technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that’s right out of a comic book. Scientists at the technical school have figured out how to implant false mental reactions in a mouse.”  The possibility of manipulating a person’s memories has stirred up a great deal of ethical resistance to the development of this technology.  Josh Kurosz, a senior, says, “Changing someone’s memories changes who they are.”  On the other side, soldiers dealing with PTSD could have their memories replaced or altered to relieve psychological distress.  Nonetheless, the possibility of people messing around with your mind and rewriting your life is still quite frightening.

            Do we need to worry about mind control?  Well, a recent experiment has proved that controlling another person’s body is possible.  NBC’s Elizabeth Landua described the historical event, “The two participants in this demonstration were the scientists themselves, Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco. They were situated on different parts of the University of Washington's campus when Stocco's finger moved on a keyboard, controlled by Rao's brain signal.”  However, more subtle mental manipulation has been around for a while.  In fact, behavior changing electronics may be in stores very soon.  According to the CNN Tech website, “Thync, a company attempting to bring brain stimulation to consumers.  Thync has been working on its device secretly for the past three years.  It's a portable headset that will offer three settings to start: energy, relaxation and focus.  One of the primary technologies Thync is based on is transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, which uses a weak electrical current to change the sensitivity of neurons in the brain.  Thync plans on having its first product ready by 2015.”  People may want to start wearing their aluminum hats, because mind control is coming soon.

            The inner workings of the brain have eluded scientists’ understanding since the study of anatomy began.  However, this field is now leaping forward.  Technological advances are bringing science fiction to the real world.  Mind reading and mental manipulation are now not only possible but are being marketed to consumers.  The current generation will have to face the many ethical questions this technology brings up.