Wednesday, January 15, 2003

An Even Scarier Alternative

'Go pills' gone if US finds a way to send soldiers sleepless into battle

Military personnel give up many rights, but this is beyond the pale...

According to the article at the link above:

One of its plans for keeping warriors awake is to "zap" their brains with an electro-magnetic energy called TMS. Much of the research is being conducted by Yaakov Stern in the laboratories of the neurological science department at Columbia University.

"When he needed it, the pilot could just be zapped during operations," said Dr Stern, a leading research scientist who has spent years mapping the brain with MRI scanners to work out which clusters of neurological cells do what.

"I am convinced that we can help the Pentagon. I have identified the parts of the brain that seem to control the response to sleep deprivation, and we have the technology to stimulate that part to improve the resistance to lack of sleep. The generals want a man who is awake and alert for up to a week. We think we can actually do that."

I wonder what the long term effects of being "zapped" will be?

It sounds eerily reminiscent of electroshock therapy....

And wonder of wonders... a quick Google on Dr. Yaakov Stern of Columbia University turns up too many references to Neuropsychology for my taste.

What next? Real field grade lobotomies?

posted by Bohica at 1:28 PM