Noninvasive Brain Control Is Real — and That’s Good

You might think you don’t want anyone controlling your brain. You might think that anyone who did want to control your brain was behaving, you know, invasively. But you’d be wrong — and that’s actually very good news. MoreIsrael Launches Series of Airstrikes in Gaza Strip NBC NewsRuth Bader Ginsburg Writes Scathing 35-Page Dissent In Birth Control Case Huffington PostWhy It's No Shock Facebook Secretly Toyed With Users' Emotions NBC NewsSevere Storms Batter Midwest as Flooding Risk Rises NBC NewsUruguay eliminates Italy; Did Suarez bite again? Sports IllustratedMost of the reactions in your brain are mediated either electrically or neurochemically — or, really, a combination of the two. But given the right manipulation, light can do it too. Nature is awash in light-sensitive proteins known as opsins, which microbes and other simple organisms use to detect different levels and wavelengths of light in their environment and react to them. For more than a decade, scientists have been experimenting with a technique known as optogenetics, which involves introducing opsins into the brain and then using light to switch certain neurons on and off, effectively controlling the behavior of a local region of the brain. (In one dramatic study last year, researchers found they could use the technique to implant false memories in mice, leading them to think they had experienced an electrical shock in a particular part of their cage, which they then avoided.) The problem...
Source: TIME: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized brain control epilepsy Genetic Engineering opsins optogenetics the brain Source Type: news