Originally published June 14 2014
Tinkering with destiny: Scientists demonstrate control over preference and behavior through brain stimulation
by Mike Bundrant
(NaturalNews) If you're uncomfortable with the idea that someone can push a button and completely alter your preferences and choices in life, then it's time to become concerned.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Leuven in Belgium have discovered that, by stimulating the area of the brain believed to play a significant role in motivation, reward and learning, they could alter preference, successfully predicting and controlling the behavior of primates.
The study will be published June 16 in the online journal Current Biology.
This is the first time that a study has been able to confirm that stimulating the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain can change preference and behavior. In previous studies, researchers had been able to correlate increased activity in the VTA with positive events in an animal's experience, but they had been unable to prove that the activity in the VTA caused behavioral shifts.
While studies in rodents had shown that manipulating the VTA affected behavior, this is the first study to bridge the gap between rodent and primate.
In order to test how VTA activation affected primate behavior, researchers placed microelectrodes within the VTA of macaque monkeys using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The monkeys were then shown a pair of images and allowed to freely choose to look at one image or the other.
Their choice was measured by observing their eye movement. Using a juice reward, the animals were trained to look first at a white square in the center and then at either of the two images.
After a preference for each animal was established, the VTA received mild stimulation whenever the animal happened to look at their non-preferred image. In a relatively short amount of time, the animal's preference changed, and they began to look more frequently at what had initially been their less favored image. When the VTA stimulation was applied again, researchers were able to shift the animal's preference back to their original choice once more.
During a second set of experiments, the animals watched a 20-minute video that presented the two images randomly every five seconds. When the non-preferred image was shown, the VTA was again mildly stimulated. When the preference test was then repeated, the animal's choice was shifted to the image that was reinforced by the VTA stimulation.
Functional MRIs that were taken when the animals received either VTA stimulation or the juice reward showed that both events activated areas of the brain associated with reward-signaling via dopamine production. In fact, the amount of VTA stimulation required was significantly less than the amount required to change or reinforce behavior in previous studies.
Preference, free will and choice
Whether or not preference stems from free will or genetic disposition, scientists can now alter it by stimulating the right areas of the brain. With a few clicks, what you thought you liked magically transforms into something different.
You can imagine all the ethical applications of such technology. Many of us prefer activities and substances that do us harm. And sometimes, liking harmful things is downright self-destructive. In fact, self-sabotage may be the universal, underlying mental dynamic that ruins lives.
If this technology were sufficiently developed, it may help people overcome the love of harmful substances, harmful people and even blatant self-harm. All of these are a frustrating yet very common part of many of our lives.
For now, we'll need to stick with the old-fashioned method of becoming willing to look at the dark side of our desires, learning how we've been programmed into a mental matrix that leads you to act against your best interests. Such an education is a rare thing, but one worth getting!
Of course, the unethical use of the science of controlling human preference and choice knows no bounds. Can you imagine how power-hungry authorities might use the choice-altering technology to their benefit? Post your thoughts in the comment section below...
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Sources for this article include:
http://inlpcenter.org
http://inlpcenter.org
http://www.sciencedaily.com
http://www.kuleuven.be
About the author:
Watch the free video The AHA! Process: An End to Self-Sabotage and discover the lost keys to personal transformation and emotional well-being that have been suppressed by mainstream mental health for decades.
The information in this video has been called the missing link in mental health and personal development. In a world full of shallow, quick-fix techniques, second rate psychology and pharmaceutical takeovers, real solutions have become nearly impossible to find. Click here to watch the presentation that will turn your world upside down.
Mike Bundrant is co-founder of the iNLP Center and host of Mental Health Exposed, a Natural News Radio program.
Follow Mike on Facebook for daily personal development tips.
Watch the free video The AHA! Process: An End to Self-Sabotage and discover the lost keys to personal transformation and emotional well-being that have been suppressed by mainstream mental health for decades.
The information in this video has been called the missing link in mental health and personal development. In a world full of shallow, quick-fix techniques, second rate psychology and pharmaceutical takeovers, real solutions have become nearly impossible to find. Click here to watch the presentation that will turn your world upside down.
Mike Bundrant is co-founder of the iNLP Center and host of Mental Health Exposed, a Natural News Radio program.
Follow Mike on Facebook for daily personal development tips.
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