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Considering the possible future ethical implications of TMS

Posted by iszabó on 15 Jun 2021 at 18:02 GMT

I was thinking about the ethical implications of these experiments.
What if in another implementation of the TMS an electro-magnetic field is used from a great distance?
In such scenario it is possible to transmit sound and other data to induce fear and other feelings in the receiver brain without his/her knowledge and simulate, for example psychiatric disorders.

It that case how is it possible to protect the brain form such transmissions? What frequencies can be used to transmit the electro-magnetic waves? What institutions are dealing with these kinds of criminal cases?

No competing interests declared.

RE: Considering the possible future ethical implications of TMS

ruffini replied to iszabó on 18 Jun 2021 at 06:14 GMT

Hello, in the probably distant future it may be possible to do such things, but at the moment, the technology or science to achieve non-invasive interaction with the brain at great distances or with any precision simply do not exist. TMS is a very short range technology, for example, the TMS coil has to be basically touching the scalp to have an effect.

The long term ethical implications of B2B remain, however. I have written a bit about it*:
"The future evolution of hyperinteraction, or, more generally, B2B technology will undoubtedly raise ethical concerns. Some of these have recently been reviewed by Hildt (2015). Of special interest, I highlight the implications on the meaning of self and from the possibility of direct communication with other species. Are these technologies dan- gerous? From the point of view that the fundamental aim of hyperinteraction is to enable the transfer of information consciously and voluntarily between brains, there should not be substantially novel, ethically difficult questions raised by what is—in the end—a communication technology. However, we do need to understand the basic science better to ensure that both information extraction and information injection can be controlled by a subjective conscious gatekeeper—even after subjects agree to voluntarily use a noninvasive B2B, BCI, or CBI system. On the other hand, the science and technology needed for hyperinteraction will foster our understanding of the human brain and undoubtedly spill over into clinical applications of BCI, CBI, and B2B, including open or closed-loop brain stimulation treatment of pathologies such as depression or epilepsy."

*Ruffini, G. (2016). Conscious Brain-to-Brain Communication Using Noninvasive Technologies☆. Closed Loop Neuroscience, 241–256. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-802452-2.00018-4

No competing interests declared.