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Human tests of an electrical device of brain zapping reveal that it can reduce the intention of people to commit crimes. The device can also improve moral judgment among people.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
The device, called transcranial direct current stimulation, zaps the part of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which experts say is responsible for controlling people. complex thoughts and behaviors.
In tests on humans, it was discovered that the device reduced by nearly 50% the aggressive thoughts of a person. The non-invasive tool was also found to improve a person's perception that physical and sexual aggression was morally wrong.
The results suggest that simple biological interventions, conducted in parallel or separately from other psychological interventions, have the potential to reduce violent behavior. "The ability to manipulate such complex and fundamental aspects of cognition and behavior from the outside of the body has enormous social, ethical and perhaps even legitimate implications," said Roy Hamilton, neurologist of the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of
The findings were published in the Journal of Neuroscience on July 2.
Conclusions
Olivia Choy, the lead author of the study, explained that her team's research focused on stimulating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex located on the upper and front of the brain. She said previous studies have already found that people with antisocial tendencies have deficits in this area of the brain.
For the test, the team recruited 81 healthy men and women aged 18 and over. The participants, who were also ethnically diverse, first received a series of questions that revealed their personality, their criminality and the social adversity of their childhood.
The participants were then divided into two groups: the first received zaps for 20 minutes. the second received low current zaps for 30 seconds
The researchers then asked the participants to evaluate two hypothetical scenarios involving physical and sexual aggression. They asked them to rate on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being a chance and 10 a 100% probability of committing the crimes in the scenarios presented. They also asked them to use the same scale and assess the severity of the errors they felt about the situations.
People who received 20 minute brain stimulations had 47% less risk of physical aggression and 70% less likely to commit sexual assault. Overall, these participants also showed 54% less likely to show aggressive intentions and 31% increased their moral judgment on assaults.
Adrian Raine, co-author of the study, said that trials can have a significant impact. crime is considered a public health problem.
"We only did one 20-minute session, and we saw an effect, what if we had more sessions, and what if we did it three times a week for a month?" Raine pointed out.
Future Applications
The researchers, however, pointed out that the technique used for testing is still at a very early stage of development. This means that more studies are needed before the method can have practical applications.
To begin, the study was primarily aimed at answering the question of whether deficits in the prefrontal cortex lead to antisocial behavior. the crimes paralyzed the functioning of the prefrontal cortex.
Indeed, there was no significant difference in the level of aggressive tendencies when all participants were asked to "stab" a computer generated image of a doll. For this test, participants were informed that they could free themselves from any negative feeling by inserting zero to 51 pins into the doll. The number of pins that they inserted represents the level of aggression that they felt.
The next step for researchers is to find out what happens when transcranial direct current stimulation is administered over long periods of time and to discover what the device is possible for. risk for the health.
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