Jonathan Moreno's "Mind Wars"

In my last post, I mentioned DARPA-funded research on invisible materials that might someday be used by the military.  While that post wasn't neuroethics-related, Jonathan Moreno has a new book coming out this Fall that very much is: Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense. 

I have heard Jonathan speak on the subject of neuroscience and warfare, and I'm sure the book will be an excellent addition to the literature.  It currently has a November release date.  Here's part of a blurb from Amazon:

In his fascinating new book, Jonathan D. Moreno investigates the deeply intertwined worlds of cutting-edge brain science, U.S. defense agencies, and a volatile geopolitical landscape where a nation's weaponry must go far beyond bombs and men. The first-ever exploration of the connections between national security and brain research, Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense reveals how many questions crowd this gray intersection of science and government and urges us to begin to answer them.

From neuropharmacology to neural imaging to brain-machine interface devices that relay images and sounds between human brains and machines, Moreno shows how national security entities seek to harness the human nervous system in a multitude of ways as a potent weapon against the enemy soldier. Moreno charts such projects as monkeys moving robotic arms with their minds, technology to read the brain’s thought patterns at a distance, the development of "anti-sleep" drugs to enhance soldiers’ battle performance and others to dampen their emotional reactions to the violence, and advances that could open the door to "neuroweapons"—virus-transported molecules to addle the brain.

Comments

[scientificallyminded]

Dr. Moreno also has a clinical ethics book that I found to be quite thoughtful, titled Is There an Ethicist in the House? That's on Amazon also. He's on the faculty for the U Virginia bioethics program, which seems to be suspended right now but otherwise looks like a great place to study.

Can't wait to read this.

[BenP]

Do you know some reference about the link between defense and brain on internet ? I found the subject interesting and I'd like to read on it.
Thanks

[Bonnie Perl]

In the 60's (the week that JFK was murdered), I was a paticent at JL Moreno's Beacon Sanitorium. I was 16 years old at the time. I didn't prosper from the therapy. According to the ethics of today, compared to then, it took me years to overcome my treatment.

I am very impressed with Dr. Morano' views and his direct approch to keeping boundaries, supposed and real, clear and percise.

Thank your for your insites.

Bonnie Perl