Mind-altering ‘brain weapons’ no longer only science fiction, say researchers | Chemical weapons

Sophisticated and deadly “brain weapons” that can attack or alter human consciousness, perception, memory or behavior are no longer the stuff of science fiction, two British academics argue.

Michael Crowley and Malcolm Dando from the University of Bradford publish a book They believe it should be a wake-up call to the world.

They are going on a trip this weekend An important meeting between states in the Hagueargues that the human mind is a new front in the war and urgent global action is needed to prevent the weaponization of neuroscience.

“Sounds like science fiction,” Crowley said. “The danger is that this will become a scientific fact.”

Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the book explores how advances in neuroscience, pharmacology and artificial intelligence are coming together to create a new threat.

“We are entering an era where the brain itself may become a battlefield,” Crowley said. “The means to manipulate, calm, confuse, and even coerce the central nervous system are becoming more precise, more accessible, and more attractive to states.”

The book traces the fascinating but horrifying history of government-sponsored research into central nervous system (CNS)-acting chemicals.

Crowley said that during and after the Cold War, the United States, the Soviet Union and China were “actively seeking” to develop CNS-impacting weapons. Their goal was to cause long-term incapacitation in humans, including “loss of consciousness or sedation or hallucination or incoherence or paralysis and disorientation.”

The only time a CNS effective weapon was used on a large scale was by the Russian Federation in 2002 to end the siege of the Moscow theater. Security forces used fentanyl derivatives to end a siege in which armed Chechen militants took 900 theatergoers hostage.

Most of the hostages were released, but more than 120 died from the effects of chemical agents and an undetermined number suffered long-term damage or died prematurely.

Significant advances have been made in research since then. Scholars argue that the ability to create “sophisticated and targeted” weapons once unimaginable exists.

“The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders can be used to disrupt cognition, promote adaptation, and even turn people into unaware agents in the future,” Dando said.

They say the threat is “real and growing” but that there are gaps in international arms control agreements that prevent it from being combated effectively.

Dando is emeritus professor of international security at the University of Bradford and a leading expert on biological and chemical weapons control. Crowley is an honorary visiting senior research fellow at Bradford’s department of peace studies and international development.

This weekend, they will travel to The Hague, where an international organization called the Conference of States Parties (CSP) will meet for its 30th session. CSP oversees the implementation of these rules. Chemical Weapons Convention.

The book reveals the need for a new “integral arms control” framework rather than relying on existing arms control agreements. It sets out a number of practical steps that can be taken, including the establishment of a working group on more broadly inactivating agents that act on the central nervous system. Other recommendations relate to training, monitoring, and definitions.

“We need to move from reactive management to proactive management,” Dando said.

Both men agree that we’re learning more about the brain and central nervous system, which is a good thing for humanity. They said they were not trying to hinder scientific progress, but that the goal was to prevent bad faith.

“This is a wake-up call. We must act now to protect the integrity of science and the sanctity of the human mind,” Crowley said.