Free Republic

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences. Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the...

Missing link only - Brain thickness determines political leaning: study

People are afraid to lose money and an unusual study released on Monday explains why -- the brain's fear center controls the response to a gamble. U.S. | Science | Health | Lifestyle The study of two women with brain lesions that made them unafraid to lose on a gamble showed the amygdala, the brain's fear center, activates at the very thought of losing money. [...]

The military has given Paul Allen's brain research project $1.8 million to incorporate into its overall mission of gene-mapping the mind some additional work on sleep deprivation. Rep. George Nethercutt, vice chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and a GOP challenger to Sen. Patty Murray, yesterday visited the Allen Institute for Brain Science to announce the grant from the Army's medical technology program. "This is a prominent problem for the military that's perfectly suited to the (brain) institute," he said. Nethercutt said the one-year Army research grant was a line item in the 2005 Defense Appropriations Act. The Allen...