SERENITY: THE FUTURE OF COGNITIVE MODULATION FOR THE HYPER ENABLED OPERATOR

In the Special Operations community, cognitive enhancement and resilience is at the forefront of the 2035 Hyper Enabled Operator Program (HEO). The United States Special Operations Command’s vision is to combine cutting-edge communications and data capabilities into a next generation tactical system for the end user. Using algorithms and autonomous systems to enhance the ability to make rational decisions faster can ultimately determine life or death on the battlefield. Over the past several years, cognitive enhancement with the introduction of brain computer interface (BCI) technology has had major breakthroughs in the medical and science fields. This thesis looks to analyze BCI technology for future cognitive dominance and cognitive overmatch in the Hyper Enabled Operator. Machine-assisted cognitive enhancement is not beyond reach for special operations; throughout the research and after multiple interviews with subject matter experts, it has been concluded that interfaces using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), median nerve stimulation (MNS), or several other exploratory procedures have been successful with enhancing cognition and reducing cognitive load. Special Operations should not shy away from transformational innovative technology or wait for commercial or lab-tested solutions. To start, Special Operations should foster avant-garde theories that provide solutions and evolve ideas into unsophisticated prototypes that can be fielded immediately.Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

NEUROWAR IS HERE!

Mysterious attacks on the human brain have begun plaguing U.S. diplomats and officials with increasing frequency, ranging from overseas diplomatic outposts to right here in the United States. Known in the media as Havana Syndrome, these attacks appear to be signaling a new form of warfare—one that is focused on enhancing, targeting, and weaponizing the human brain—neurowarfare. Indeed, the human brain is at the center of a biotechnological revolution currently underway. At the same time, great power competition has returned to the forefront of international relations, as China and Russia seek to contest America’s global leadership. In an increasingly globalized and interconnected world, this contest is ultimately a battle of ideas and influence, with more value placed on information and non-lethal means to manipulate and control both adversaries and domestic populations alike. The battle for influence begins and ends in the human mind, where reality is perceived. The implications of these developments point to both a new form and domain of warfare centering on the human brain. By highlighting recent attacks targeting the brain and revealing research from the United States and its two main competitors—China and Russia—this thesis seeks to argue that neurowar is not just coming, but rather is already here and is likely to fundamentally alter conflict and warfare.Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air ForceMajor, United States Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Brain data:Scanning, scraping and sculpting the plastic learning brain through neurotechnology

Neurotechnology is an advancing field of research and development with significant implications for education. As 'postdigital' hybrids of biological and informational codes, novel neurotechnologies combine neuroscience insights into the human brain with advanced technical development in brain imaging, brain-computer interfaces, neurofeedback platforms, brain stimulation and other neuroenhancement applications. Merging neurobiological knowledge about human life with computational technologies, neurotechnology exemplifies how postdigital science will play a significant role in societies and education in decades to come. As neurotechnology developments are being extended to education, they present potential for businesses and governments to enact new techniques of 'neurogovernance' by 'scanning' the brain, 'scraping' it for data and then 'sculpting' the brain toward particular capacities. The aim of this article is to critically review neurotechnology developments and implications for education. It examines the purposes to which neurotechnology development is being put in education, interrogating the commercial and governmental objectives associated with it and the neuroscientific concepts and expertise that underpin it. Finally, the article raises significant ethical and governance issues related to neurotechnology development and postdigital science that require concerted attention from education researchers

Brain-computer interfaces: barriers and opportunities to widespread clinical adoption

Brain-computer Interface (BCI) is an emerging neurotechnology with potential applications involving primarily neurological disorders. There is a rising interest in the use of BCI to address current unmet clinical needs from patients. Despite their therapeutic potential, BCI use is still mostly limited to research stages and its translation into mainstream clinical applications and widespread adoption is lagging. This study revises the current potential clinical applications of BCIs in humans, attempts to understand barriers and opportunities to wider clinical adoption and draws health policy and management implications of BCIs use in medical practice. The methodology followed a two-step approach which included a systematic review of potential clinical applications of BCIs and a qualitative study, using focus group method, to understand and integrate professionals’ experiences, perceptions, thoughts and feelings on the wide clinical adoption of BCIs. Focus groups included professionals from the medical, engineering and management field. BCI clinical applications with more clinical evidence include neurorehabilitation with non-invasive devices and the control of assistive devices with invasive BCIs. Nowadays, several barriers to wider clinical adoption of BCIs, including technological, seem addressable. However, systemic barriers from the health systems to innovation and technological interventions need a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to enhance their adoption. Professionals from medicine, engineering and management, working in collaboration in healthcare contexts, are some of the stakeholders important to change the current vision of healthcare towards innovation.As interfaces cérebro-computador (BCI) são uma Neurotecnologia emergente com potencial para serem aplicadas no âmbito clínico, nomeadamente em condições de foro neurológico. Existe um interesse crescente no uso desta tecnologia para ir de encontro às necessidades clínicas de doentes com poucas soluções de tratamento e apoio médico. Apesar das potencialidades das BCI para serem usadas em contexto clínico em humanos, as suas aplicações têm-se limitado a contextos específicos de pesquisa e sem transição para a área da saúde com consequente adoção enquanto ferramenta terapêutica. Com este trabalho pretende-se rever as aplicações clínicas atuais destes dispositivos em humanos, perceber quais as barreiras e oportunidades para a sua adoção em contextos clínicos e retirar ilações do uso de BCI para políticas de saúde e gestão de inovação na prática médica. A metodologia foi dividida em duas fases, que incluíram uma revisão sistemática das potenciais aplicações clínicas de BCI e um estudo qualitativo, usando focus groups, para melhor perceber e integrar as experiências, perceções, ideias e sentimentos de profissionais em relação à adoção de BCI na prática clínica comum. Os focus groups incluíram profissionais das áreas médica, de engenharia e de gestão. As aplicações clínicas com maior nível de evidência para a clínica incluem a neuroreabilitação com BCI não-invasivos e o controlo de dispositivos de assistência com BCI invasivos. Atualmente, diversas barreiras à implementação de BCI em contexto clínico, incluindo o desenvolvimento tecnológico, parecem ser possíveis de ultrapassar num prazo razoável. Contudo, barreiras sistemáticas à inovação e intervenções tecnológicas no âmbito dos sistemas de saúde, apresentam-se como um problema mais complexo e necessitarão de uma abordagem mais globalizada e multidisciplinar para tornar possível a adoção de BCI na prática clínica. Para atingir este objetivo e ultrapassar estas barreiras, profissionais das áreas de medicina, engenharia e gestão devem colaborar e trabalhar em conjunto em contextos de saúde, contribuindo para uma mudança de cultura e tornando os sistemas de saúde mais abertos à inovação

Attack on the Brain: Neurowars and Neurowarfare

Is neurotechnology leading nation-states toward a new domain of war? Neuroscience is on the verge of deciphering the human brain. As a result, brains will become a part of the battlefield against which attacks will be directed. As neuroscientist James Giordano argued: “the brain is the next battlespace.” It is foreseeable that this will have tremendous implications for warfare and could amount to a true military revolution in the sense of military historian Williamson Murray: it would completely change the characteristics of conflict, as well as transform state and society

A history of optogenetics: the development of tools for controlling brain circuits with light

Understanding how different kinds of neuron in the brain work together to implement sensations, feelings, thoughts, and movements, and how deficits in specific kinds of neuron result in brain diseases, has long been a priority in basic and clinical neuroscience. “Optogenetic” tools are genetically encoded molecules that, when targeted to specific neurons in the brain, enable their activity to be driven or silenced by light. These molecules are microbial opsins, seven-transmembrane proteins adapted from organisms found throughout the world, which react to light by transporting ions across the lipid membranes of cells in which they are genetically expressed. These tools are enabling the causal assessment of the roles that different sets of neurons play within neural circuits, and are accordingly being used to reveal how different sets of neurons contribute to the emergent computational and behavioral functions of the brain. These tools are also being explored as components of prototype neural control prosthetics capable of correcting neural circuit computations that have gone awry in brain disorders. This review gives an account of the birth of optogenetics and discusses the technology and its applications.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (New Innovator Award (DP2OD002002))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (EFRI 0835878)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMS 0848804)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMS 1042134)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant 1R01DA029639)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant 1RC1MH088182)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant 1RC2DE020919)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant 1R01NS067199)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant 1R43NS070453)United States. Dept. of Defense (CDMRP PTSD Program