The Inverse Polygraph: A New Device for Implanting Thought Patterns

by C L Spillard

(Paper to have been submitted by Professor Josef Austin of Harvard, currently on secondment to the U.K. Ministry of Defence, to ‘IEEE Transactions, Medical Devices’, but withdrawn having been found to contain Classified material. This copy provided by Candida Spillard, a former volunteer subject of Professor Austin’s, who came across it while sorting paper for recycling and is releasing the findings for the Public Good.)

Abstract

This paper presents the Inverse Polygraph, a new device for use in Psychotherapy or other fields in which new patterns need to be introduced into the minds of unwitting subjects.

Appearing as a Polygraph or ‘Lie-detector’, the device includes an extra pair of sets of electrodes which fit on the subject’s temples and deliver stimulant electrical pulses to specific locations in the brain.

We report success in implanting a specific idea into the brains of a large number of British subjects.

Introduction

Polygraphs, more colloquially known as ‘Lie-detectors’, are regularly used in security vetting and police questioning. For this reason, subjects do not generally find their application threatening or intimidating: indeed, a good investigator should be able to put a subject at their ease so as to avoid the possibility of ‘false positive’ readings.

The Inverse Polygraph is a conventional ‘passive’ (i.e. receive-only) Polygraph with an extra, active, functionality. This takes the form of a pair of hand-sized modules which fit over the subject’s temples and, using conventional phased-array antenna technology, deliver electromagnetic stimuli to specific locations in the brain.

In this way, ‘memories’ and associations can be implanted into subjects without their knowledge, while they believe themselves to be undergoing straightforward questioning.

Method

It has long been established that the brain’s memory centre resides in the Hippocampus, a dual horn-shaped bundle of neurons located in the medial temporal lobe.

When the brain is actively reinforcing, or ‘laying-down’ memories, beta waves pass between the Hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (see, for example, [1]). These can be detected using conventional Electroencephalogram (E.E.G.) technology. If the ‘association’ lain down is subsequently found to be incorrect or of no value, theta-waves are emitted, which weaken the ‘memory’ of it.

Our initial tests consisted of asking a large number of volunteer subjects to recall a specific event, namely voting for the party of their choice at a General Election, while E.E.G. traces were recorded. Subjects were told that the aim of the research was to find out the extent to which weather conditions influenced voting behaviour.

Subjects were verbally taken through the event using a ‘script’ consisting of a sequence of open-ended prompts, in a method similar to that used in questioning a crime witness.

The process was repeated three times for each subject.

After completing the sequences, but still with E.E.G. traces being recorded, the subjects were asked to name the political party for which they had cast their vote.

A total of 2,877 subjects took part, from whom 7,254 traces were obtained. Some traces could not be used owing to the subjects’ reluctance to reveal their voting intentions.

The traces were analysed in three ways.

First, a ‘weighted mean’ trace was constructed for each of the five political parties: Conservative, Liberal-Democrat, Labour, U.K. Independence and Green.

Regression analysis of all the traces was then performed, extracting the characteristics which differentiated the parties.

Typical frequencies and wave profiles were then extracted from these, by Fourier and Wavelet analysis in three dimensions.

The profiles for the desired political party (Conservative) were then programmed into the elements of the phased arrays, for active transmission.

The second stage of the experiment consisted of finding a large number of volunteers who were known supporters of a particular political party. Subjects were told the experimenters were looking for differences in brain function between the parties: for example it is known that the Amygdala is more active in supporters of parties towards the political right-wing.

Results

Subjects’ initial party support broke down as follows:

Conservative ……………..… 15
Labour ………………….…... 32
Liberal Democrat ……….... 44
U.K. Independence ……..…12
Green ……………………...… 33
Total ……………………...… 136

Subjects’ final party support after treatment with the “Conservative” waveforms broke down as follows:

Conservative …………….… 43
Labour ……………………… 12
Liberal Democrat ………… 32
U.K. Independence …….…25
Green ……………………….. 12
Don’t know/not said ….….. 12
Total ……………………….. 136

Four of the “Don’t know/not said” subjects did not complete the experiment, complaining of it triggering severe migraine attacks. One subject, CS, became so agitated with pain that she smashed the device.

Conclusion

In this paper we have shown that electrical stimulation of the relevant sections of the brain can influence memories and associations to the extent that they alter subjects’ political preferences.

Time has not yet allowed for it to be established whether these changes are permanent.

However the findings may still prove useful if implemented in the guise of a straightforward security check, using a conventional polygraph, at polling stations.

References

[1] ‘How brain waves guide memory formation’, http://news.mit.edu/2015/brain-waves-guide-memory-formation-0223

Professor Josef Austin was born in Austria and came to the United States at the age of six with his parents. At the age of eight he successfully trained a spider to obey simple prompts such as “Forward March!” before removing its legs and concluding after observing its subsequent behaviour that spiders hear with their feet.

A stellar career in Experimental Psychology was the natural next step. However, little is known about his work owing to most of its being carried out in conditions of strict secrecy.

Originally published in Mad Scientist Journal, in 2017.

Candida Spillard can be found at www.cspillardwriter.co.uk