0:00:02 > 0:00:04Why do we do the things we do?
0:00:04 > 0:00:08What really makes us tick?
0:00:08 > 0:00:11How do our minds work?
0:00:11 > 0:00:12For centuries,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17these questions were largely left to philosophers and theologians.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Then, about 100 years ago, a new science began to shine
0:00:23 > 0:00:28a bright light on the inner workings of the mind.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31It was called "experimental psychology".
0:00:31 > 0:00:36In this series, I'm tracing the history of how this "new science"
0:00:36 > 0:00:38revealed things about ourselves
0:00:38 > 0:00:41that were surprising and often profoundly shocking.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43The experiment requires that we continue.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45But he might be dead in there!
0:00:45 > 0:00:50In this film, I'm investigating the inventive, sometimes barbaric ways
0:00:50 > 0:00:55psychology has been used to control and manipulate people.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57How does it feel, good or bad?
0:00:57 > 0:00:58- Good.- Good?
0:00:58 > 0:01:00It's a science which strikes
0:01:00 > 0:01:03at the heart of what we hold most dear - our free will.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I don't think people like having their behaviour tinkered with,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10I don't think they like to be told what to do.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15The pursuit of mind control led to some truly horrific experiments,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18and left many casualties in its wake.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I only remember that I forget.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Everything.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28But investigating the forces that shape our minds and our behaviour
0:01:28 > 0:01:32has also led to profound insights into how the brain works.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Ever since I was a medical student,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40I have been fascinated by psychology,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43by what it has revealed about ourselves
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and by how far some researchers have been prepared to go.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I'm on my way to Cardiff and I'm feeling apprehensive.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10I'm about to take a class A hallucinogenic drug.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16In the past, this drug and others like it were used in experiments
0:02:16 > 0:02:18which were designed with a very sinister purpose -
0:02:18 > 0:02:22to achieve total mind control.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28The drug I'm going to be given is psilocybin,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31the active ingredient of magic mushrooms.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Normally, taking psilocybin would be illegal.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40- Michael.- Hello, nice to see you.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42But in this case, Professor David Nutt
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and his team from Imperial College are doing a scientific study,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48the first of its kind in the UK.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- So, am I going to enjoy this? - I think so.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Most people do, most people get something positive from it.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56We've had no bad reactions,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58so don't worry about what you're going to feel.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I think you may enjoy it.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03It's a bit odd, the idea of having your consciousness played with.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06You do it all the time, don't you?
0:03:06 > 0:03:09- Every time you go out and get drunk.- OK.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The team are expecting psilocybin to have a significant impact on me.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20So I'm put through physical and psychological tests.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24- Would you describe yourself as a spiritual person?- A bit.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28- And would you describe yourself as a mystical person?- No.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30So I'm going to prepare the drug now.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34- See that tiny amount in there? Can you see it?- Just.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38That's 3.5 milligrams, so you get two milligrams.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42- So that's going to be it? - That's it, but it does quite a lot.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Surprisingly enough,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47David Nutt believes that by changing the brain,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49psilocybin's mind-bending properties
0:03:49 > 0:03:53may help psychiatric disorders like depression.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Before they test it on patients, the team want to find out
0:03:57 > 0:04:01exactly how it acts on normal brains like mine.
0:04:01 > 0:04:02It can be quite traumatic.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05The last volunteer we had had quite a dramatic response.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09He said it was probably the strangest experience of his life.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13- OK.- He said that, um, his whole sense of self dissolved,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and he only existed as a concept.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:04:17 > 0:04:22OK, I'm not sure I wish to only exist as a concept. We shall see.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27I am starting to wonder what sort of trip I'm going to have.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30I'm placed in a brain scanner
0:04:30 > 0:04:35so the team can map in detail how my brain reacts to psilocybin.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Then the drug is injected.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42The result? Well, it would turn out
0:04:42 > 0:04:46to be one of the strangest and most unusual experiences of my life.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Today, drugs are at the cutting edge of mind control.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56But down the years, scientists have experimented with more unusual ways
0:04:56 > 0:04:58to manipulate our brains.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06There is a long and murky history behind scientific attempts
0:05:06 > 0:05:11to control emotions, behaviour, and decision-making.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19I think some of the most interesting stuff can be traced
0:05:19 > 0:05:23to an accidental discovery by a Russian more than 100 years ago.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30In the 1890s, biologist Ivan Pavlov was studying dogs,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34many of which had been snatched off the streets of St Petersburg.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38His early experiments seemed to have nothing to do with mind control.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42He was studying reflexes in animals.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Pavlov was interested in saliva, and in particular,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48how much saliva is produced when we eat different sorts of foods.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Now, he studied it in dogs.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56He operated on his dogs so he could accurately measure
0:05:56 > 0:05:59the saliva they produced when they saw food.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02To Pavlov's immense surprise,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04he discovered that the dogs would salivate
0:06:04 > 0:06:06not just when they got the food,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10but when they simply saw the men in white coats
0:06:10 > 0:06:12who brought them the food.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14This was utterly unexpected.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Pavlov realised that his dogs had made an association
0:06:18 > 0:06:21between the lab coat and the arrival of food.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26It was this association, rather than the food itself,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28that produced the saliva reflex.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Pavlov wanted to train other responses.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36As he did so, his experiments became increasingly brutal.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39In this experiment, the beat of the metronome
0:06:39 > 0:06:42is combined with an electric shock.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44BUZZING
0:06:44 > 0:06:48The electric shock is given a number of times,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50until the beat of the metronome alone
0:06:50 > 0:06:53is enough to cause the dog to jump.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The Pavlovian response is one of the most famous discoveries
0:06:59 > 0:07:01in the history of psychology.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03What is less well known
0:07:03 > 0:07:06is that Pavlov didn't confine himself to dogs.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11Disturbingly, he was also involved in experiments on children.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12According to Pavlov,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16our reflexes start being conditioned from the moment we're born.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18As we progress through life,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20more and more of these conditioned reflexes
0:07:20 > 0:07:25are implanted in our brains, building up complex behaviours.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27And once you understand the basics
0:07:27 > 0:07:30of how those behaviours are laid down,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33well, perhaps you can begin to also control them.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35BABY CRIES
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Pavlov's discoveries are fundamental to mind control,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45but they are limited.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48They only condition behaviours that already exist.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54By the time Pavlov died in the mid-1930s,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57new techniques had been developed in America
0:07:57 > 0:08:01that promised far more sophisticated mind manipulation.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08These methods also held the enticing possibility
0:08:08 > 0:08:12of being used on a grand scale.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15The man behind these developments was so controversial
0:08:15 > 0:08:17that he was hung in effigy.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The vice president described him as "most dangerous".
0:08:20 > 0:08:23And the FBI kept a detailed file on him.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27I'm here to meet Deborah Buzan, daughter of BF Skinner,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30one of the most famous and infamous scientists
0:08:30 > 0:08:32in the history of psychology.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- Hello.- Hello.- Michael Mosley.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Nice to meet you. Come in.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41He's receiving an honorary degree at Harvard here.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43- He was terribly proud of that. - Uh-huh.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And here he is with a rat. SHE LAUGHS
0:08:47 > 0:08:50This, again, is the machine behind with the gazillion wires and things.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53It would all be done very differently today.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56That's my father putting the pigeon
0:08:56 > 0:08:59into what became known as the Skinner Box.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03The key to Skinner's research was the so-called Skinner Box.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06He used it to create new behaviour.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12In this Skinner Box, a pigeon is given a reward
0:09:12 > 0:09:14every time it pecks the word "peck",
0:09:14 > 0:09:18or turns full circle when it sees the word "turn" appear.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23The pigeon has learnt
0:09:23 > 0:09:26that when it performs these actions, it gets food.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28So it continues to do them.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34As it does so, this new behaviour is reinforced.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40This pigeon experiment, and many like it, demonstrated graphically
0:09:40 > 0:09:42that carefully-timed rewards
0:09:42 > 0:09:48can reinforce, change or even create new behaviours.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Deborah is using her father's technique
0:09:52 > 0:09:55to train her cats to play the piano.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Lola's not exactly a virtuoso,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03but she has learnt that a little tinkle earns a piece of chicken.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07I like the fact that she changes notes.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Oh, that was good.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Teaching animals cute tricks is hardly controversial,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23but Skinner had defined a precise and powerful way
0:10:23 > 0:10:27of modifying behaviour and said it should be used on humans.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28He wanted to apply
0:10:28 > 0:10:32his scientific methods of psychological manipulation
0:10:32 > 0:10:33to whole populations.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37He was really, essentially, telling people how to behave,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41how to act, maybe how to create a world
0:10:41 > 0:10:43in which people would act differently
0:10:43 > 0:10:45from the way they already acted.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49And I don't think people like to have their behaviour tinkered with.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I don't think they like to be told what to do.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Skinner believed that many of the problems of modern society
0:10:56 > 0:11:00could be improved if a ruling elite
0:11:00 > 0:11:04were to use his methods to control behaviour.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Using them would reduce violence and improve productivity.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Skinner's psychologically-controlled society brushed aside
0:11:15 > 0:11:19an individual's role in determining and shaping their own destiny.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23He saw belief in free will as unscientific nonsense.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26These views polarised opinion.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34On 3rd May, 1972, the same day that 6000 students cheered him on
0:11:34 > 0:11:38in Michigan, he was hung in effigy at Indiana University.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42He very much wanted to get across his message. I don't know
0:11:42 > 0:11:47if he expected such a reception, which was not all good, of course.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But, certainly, it made people sit up and think.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Skinner's utopia never materialised.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59But his methods of behaviour control are now widely used
0:11:59 > 0:12:02in everyday life.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05They have been particularly influential
0:12:05 > 0:12:07in the world of child development,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10where the use of well-targeted rewards to encourage good behaviour
0:12:10 > 0:12:13has become an established parenting technique.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And for some children, Skinner's methods have proved life-changing.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22I've tried applying some of Skinner's techniques
0:12:22 > 0:12:25to my own kids in a slightly sort of haphazard fashion.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27What I've never done is,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30I've never seen it applied systematically
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and in an organised way.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34And I'm hoping to see that in here.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41In the Jigsaw School for Autistic Children in Surrey,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45the teachers use a system based on Skinner's principles
0:12:45 > 0:12:48called Applied Behaviour Analysis.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52We're going to go and watch Rohit working.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Take a seat.- Thank you.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Rohit started with us last September,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00so he's almost done a full academic year with us.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02He's actually behaving beautifully this morning,
0:13:02 > 0:13:04but within his repertoire,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08he can assault staff, he likes to pull hair.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Eight-year-old Rohit is working through a series of learning tasks.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Each task is broken down into small parts.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20He gets a token for completing each part of the task.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Point to a cube. That's a cube. Good boy, give me high-five.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Well done. You can take off a token, that was lovely work.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Every single correct response here is being reinforced by the teacher.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32Our main focus is,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36if we're constantly praising and reinforcing appropriate behaviour,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39we will see an increase in that appropriate behaviour.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- It is a mushroom.- It is a mushroom.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Good boy, you're trying really hard. Good job, Mister.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49The key is to consistently reward the behaviours and responses
0:13:49 > 0:13:51they want to encourage.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56Rohit is working towards the bigger prize of time in the soft play area.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00So they get a combination of reinforcers, if you like,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04so it's a mixture of praise, pat on the back, and a point
0:14:04 > 0:14:07- which they know leads to a prize? - Yes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Rohit eventually gets his prize - playtime in the soft room.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17But more importantly, he'd sat for over an hour
0:14:17 > 0:14:20learning picture-word associations,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24something that would have been impossible just a year ago.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Are you a fan of Skinner, then?
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I am a fan of Skinner, yes.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33It is really heart-warming watching the way that Skinner's ideas
0:14:33 > 0:14:37of positive reinforcement are being put into practice
0:14:37 > 0:14:39in such a sort of practical way.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And I also think that without Skinner,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46these kids' lives would be an awful lot bleaker.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Skinner believed passionately that behaviour modification
0:14:53 > 0:14:57could and should be used to make the world a better place.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02'A false testimony, really,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05'which I had fabricated to keep them happy.'
0:15:05 > 0:15:09But, in the 1950s, when he was developing his ideas,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14research into mind control had already taken a more sinister turn,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17fuelled by the ruthless needs of war.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23By then, America was fighting the communists in Korea.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27As the conflict raged, a sinister new weapon emerged.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31'I did sign a confession, relating to germ warfare.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'How can I tell them these things?'
0:15:34 > 0:15:35It first came to light
0:15:35 > 0:15:39when the North Koreans paraded their American prisoners of war.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45'How can I go back and face my family?
0:15:45 > 0:15:50'In a civilised world, how can I tell them these things?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53'That I am a criminal in the eyes of humanity?
0:15:53 > 0:15:56'They are my flesh and blood.'
0:15:56 > 0:15:58These images really disturbed people,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02American soldiers denouncing American aggression.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04How had the North Koreans done it?
0:16:04 > 0:16:07How had they, in such a short period of time,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10managed to convert them to the communist cause?
0:16:10 > 0:16:14'How can I go back and face my family?
0:16:14 > 0:16:16'They are my flesh and blood.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20'..and absurd. I did sign a confession...'
0:16:20 > 0:16:22This was a terrifying new weapon
0:16:22 > 0:16:26that threatened the freedom of the West.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28And they gave this weapon a name.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Brainwashing.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34'People who used to be in the asylum...'
0:16:34 > 0:16:35A huge effort was made
0:16:35 > 0:16:39to try and uncover the secrets of the communist brainwashers.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45In Britain, an ambitious psychiatrist soon became convinced
0:16:45 > 0:16:47he knew how it was done.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53His name was William Sargant, and his radical approach to psychiatry
0:16:53 > 0:16:56inspired both loyalty and loathing.
0:16:56 > 0:17:02He once said of himself, "Some people say I'm a wonderful doctor,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06"others that I am the work of the devil."
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Sargant had a theory on brainwashing,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13and it was based on the work of none other than Ivan Pavlov.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Sargant had read about one of Pavlov's lesser-known experiments,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20in which he'd tried to remove his dogs' conditioning.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Typically, Pavlov had not gone for half measures.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26He had induced nervous breakdowns in his dogs,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and found that this rapidly and dramatically removed
0:17:29 > 0:17:33the conditioned behaviour he had so painstakingly created.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Pavlov concluded that, during the breakdown,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42established connections in the dogs' brains were lost.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44When the brain rewired itself,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48it made new connections, leading to dramatic changes in behaviour.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Sargant thought that Pavlov's work
0:17:52 > 0:17:55was central to understanding brainwashing,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57how somebody could change their core beliefs
0:17:57 > 0:17:59in a very short period of time.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Just as with the dogs, Sargant believed that when a human brain
0:18:04 > 0:18:07is broken down, connections are lost,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09which then need to be rebuilt.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15He decided to use this insight as the basis of a radical treatment
0:18:15 > 0:18:17for mentally ill patients.
0:18:20 > 0:18:21His aim was simple -
0:18:21 > 0:18:26to break down and then reprogramme their troubled minds.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32Mary Thornton was 21 when she was admitted under Sargant's care.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38My memories are like snapshots.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44One is of the electrodes being attached to the side of my head,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47being given a general anaesthetic,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51seeing an image of myself in the mirror one day,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55seeing a strange face looking back at myself.
0:18:56 > 0:19:02And being really, really frightened that I would never get out.
0:19:10 > 0:19:1240 years on, Mary has returned
0:19:12 > 0:19:16to the Royal Waterloo Hospital in London, once part of St Thomas'.
0:19:17 > 0:19:23This... It... One of these rooms is the room I recovered in.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25And it was on the left-hand side.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28And it could have been that room.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32It could have been a room exactly like that.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Mary's parents had admitted her to the hospital
0:19:35 > 0:19:38following a series of rows over a new boyfriend.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I understood that I was there
0:19:41 > 0:19:46to be treated for an acute anxiety state.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52And I was told that I would be given sleep treatment to help my, erm...
0:19:54 > 0:19:57..head to have a nice, long rest.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Mary, and other patients, became unwitting guinea pigs,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04testing Sargant's more radical ideas.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09Every available method is used here, all at the same time.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Sargant believed it was essential to use a wide range of approaches
0:20:13 > 0:20:18if he was to break down established patterns of thinking.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22He began with a process of "modified narcosis".
0:20:22 > 0:20:27Patients were put into a medicated sleep for up to three months.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31The patients are woken three times a day for feeding,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and to check on whether they're getting better.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37They were then given copious amounts of drugs,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41combined with bouts of electric shock therapy, or ECT.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- OK? Go. - 110 volts for three seconds
0:20:45 > 0:20:49through the frontal lobes of the brain.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Sargant was convinced he had to use all the tools available to him
0:20:54 > 0:20:56if he was to wipe the slate clean.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58He had also suffered from depression,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00and knew it could be life-threatening,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02so the risks were worth it.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06In all my 30 years, I've tried never to use any method
0:21:06 > 0:21:08that I wouldn't use on myself.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09All that matters is,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13don't do unto others what you wouldn't have done to yourself.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19For many patients like Mary,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23this barrage of treatments had a dramatic effect on their minds.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25I only remember that I forget.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Everything.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33That's what ECT made you do.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37In this building, I saw her maybe four times,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40I visited maybe four times.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47And she progressively got less aware of who I was.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52On one occasion, she didn't know me from Adam.
0:21:52 > 0:21:58After three months at the Royal Waterloo, Mary was discharged.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Sargant's belief that her brain, shaken and shocked,
0:22:00 > 0:22:05would reassemble itself, free from the shackles of her past, was wrong.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12When I left, I had great big black holes in my memory.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16I was sent to convalesce to my brother in Yorkshire.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18A week or so into my stay,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21I suddenly remembered that I had a boyfriend,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26and I found his telephone number. And I phoned him up.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30And he came to meet me in London.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Lucky for me!
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And we've been together ever since.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40We had her on two grams.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42- That's 2,000 milligrams.- Yes.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Sargant had shown that with drugs and ECT,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49he could disrupt and destroy memories.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Yet with patients like Mary,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54he failed to break patterns of behaviour
0:22:54 > 0:22:56and alter personal beliefs.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00The human mind had proved remarkably resilient to change.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03And without these new treatments, we did have psychotherapy
0:23:03 > 0:23:04and psychoanalysis...
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Sargant's theories on brainwashing were flawed,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and rejected by many British psychiatrists.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14'How can I go back and face my family?'
0:23:14 > 0:23:18But across the Atlantic, in the United States, a frantic search
0:23:18 > 0:23:22to learn the secrets of communist mind control continued unabated.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25'They're my flesh and blood.'
0:23:25 > 0:23:29In response to the threat of brainwashing, the CIA had set up
0:23:29 > 0:23:34their own secret operation, code name MK-ULTRA.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39MK-ULTRA employed many of the leading scientists of the day.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44From 1953, they embarked on a series of increasingly bizarre experiments
0:23:44 > 0:23:48designed to replicate the communist brainwashing techniques.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52They subjected people to sensory deprivation,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55total isolation, electric shocks.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59One research area that seemed promising was drugs,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03and one class of drug stood out from all the rest.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07They seemed to change the world.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14They distorted vision, and they warped sound.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18They created vivid hallucinations.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and psilocybin had only recently
0:24:26 > 0:24:30been discovered, and were the subject of intense research.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36They held out the enticing possibility
0:24:36 > 0:24:38of controlling another person's mind.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Perhaps they could also change your core beliefs.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49The top-secret operatives from MK-ULTRA experimented on themselves,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52their colleagues and on unsuspecting members of the public.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54And the American military
0:24:54 > 0:24:57also attempted to harness their mind-bending powers.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03- How do you feel? - I could run 100 miles right now.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05- Is that right?- That's right. - Pretty pepped up, huh?
0:25:05 > 0:25:10But, while the drugs were certainly mind-altering,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13they were useless as a form of brainwashing.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16The effects were too temporary, too unpredictable
0:25:16 > 0:25:19to reliably alter an individual.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21The huge effort to produce
0:25:21 > 0:25:25a foolproof method of brainwashing had failed.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And following the end of the Korean War,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31it emerged that communist techniques were also flawed.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Many of the soldiers who had denounced America while in captivity
0:25:34 > 0:25:39rediscovered their patriotism when they got home.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Brainwashing turned out to be an illusory weapon of war.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47For many years, there was diminished scientific interest
0:25:47 > 0:25:50in the mind-altering properties of hallucinogenic drugs.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Now, half a century on, things are changing.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01As part of an experiment, I have been injected with psilocybin,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03the active component of magic mushrooms.
0:26:03 > 0:26:09Professor Nutt and his team look on as the drug races through my system.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14They want to understand exactly how the drug works on my brain.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Ten on that scale is extremely intense.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20How anxious he feels now...
0:26:21 > 0:26:24He'll be hallucinating, certainly.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27He might be seeing colours and swirling patterns.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Probably some bodily feelings as well.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31His body might feel slightly different.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Maybe a kind of floating sensation.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Inside the machine, I was convinced I could levitate,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42make the walls of the scanner dissolve
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and fly up to the stars at supersonic speed.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50It was all rather beautiful.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52His sense of time has slowed down.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57OK, Michael, we're all finished, I'll come and get you out.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Thank you.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02'Although the effects of psilocybin had largely worn off,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06'I had an uncontrollable urge to talk. And talk.'
0:27:06 > 0:27:10That was very strange, I have to say, because I thought,
0:27:10 > 0:27:11"Whoa!" and then, "Whoo!"
0:27:11 > 0:27:13It was really sort of, whoosh, take-off.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18'..And talk. And talk.'
0:27:18 > 0:27:21It took me back to when I was eight years old
0:27:21 > 0:27:22and I used to rub my eyeballs
0:27:22 > 0:27:25in an attempt to have religious experiences.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27You felt it, when it came,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30it was just like being in a sort of Star Trek thing,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32going into hyperspace, and "whoo".
0:27:32 > 0:27:35As soon as you start thinking even the slightest bad thoughts,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37you think, "This is really, really...
0:27:37 > 0:27:38"I don't want to go there."
0:27:38 > 0:27:42And actually, dragging yourself back from it is very difficult.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44I'm still feeling very strange.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47But you want to go out and share it with everyone.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50You want to go and say, "Hello!" and talk about it.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54My results will be merged with scans from other volunteers
0:27:54 > 0:27:59to identify the precise areas inside the brain where the drug is active.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04And you see there are essentially three big, blue blobs.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06What blue means is that
0:28:06 > 0:28:10- the activity of the brain has shut down.- Switched off!
0:28:10 > 0:28:13When we went into this study, we thought that this drug
0:28:13 > 0:28:17would activate, certainly different parts of the brain to those,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20but we don't find any activation anywhere.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22All we find are reductions in blood flow.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26David Nutt believes that the areas of the brain
0:28:26 > 0:28:27that are being switched off
0:28:27 > 0:28:30are critical to the experience I've just had.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32The blobs in the middle
0:28:32 > 0:28:36are the part of the brain that tells us who and what we are.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39When these were dampened down, I was released from everyday constraints.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41You were able to break free
0:28:41 > 0:28:44from the normal constraints of what you are -
0:28:44 > 0:28:49"I'm a father, I've got to go home in an hour and a half, I've got to make this programme."
0:28:49 > 0:28:51The fact that it dampens activity in these areas
0:28:51 > 0:28:52may provide clues
0:28:52 > 0:28:56as to how psilocybin could be used to treat depression.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58One of the things we think is that,
0:28:58 > 0:29:03if in conditions like depression or obsessive compulsive disorder,
0:29:03 > 0:29:09where people get locked into a mindset which is maladaptive,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12- these regions may be overactive.- Ah.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Maybe dampening those down
0:29:15 > 0:29:18will help people move into another mindset
0:29:18 > 0:29:20which might be better and healthier.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23If you wanted to shift somebody who's profoundly depressed
0:29:23 > 0:29:26out of that mindset, something like this might conceivably...
0:29:26 > 0:29:30It's conceivable. We need to do the experiments.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32That's part of the rationale.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36It helps take you from this rigid, motoric process
0:29:36 > 0:29:40of thinking, into something that may be more positive.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46'The idea that you could use a psychedelic drug like psilocybin
0:29:46 > 0:29:48'to treat depression is certainly surprising.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52'If it works, one advantage is, it works fast.'
0:29:52 > 0:29:55You changed immediately. Whether it would produce immediate changes
0:29:55 > 0:29:57into a depressed person, we don't know.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00If it did, it would be wonderful, wouldn't it?
0:30:00 > 0:30:04If particularly, you could hold on to those and maintain them.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08It may turn out that hallucinogenic drugs
0:30:08 > 0:30:11do have a part to play in mind control.
0:30:11 > 0:30:16As a therapeutic tool, to help patients think more positively,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19it's a far cry from the ambitions of would-be brainwashers.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25'"How is it possible?" I ask myself.'
0:30:25 > 0:30:30In the 1960s, a new discovery would uncover a far more pervasive
0:30:30 > 0:30:32and effective way of controlling people.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38It was far more subtle and almost impossible to escape.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41But he might be dead in there!
0:30:42 > 0:30:45The new approach emphasised the importance of social pressure,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48of the social context you find yourself in.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50To find out more,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54psychologists devised elaborate human experiments,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56sometimes with shocking results.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05The son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe,
0:31:05 > 0:31:06Stanley Milgram wanted
0:31:06 > 0:31:10to understand why so many people took part in the perpetration
0:31:10 > 0:31:12of terrible war crimes.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Milgram was curious to find out
0:31:19 > 0:31:22what drove German soldiers to participate in the Holocaust.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27How is it possible, I ask myself,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30that ordinary people, courteous and decent in everyday life,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33can act callously, inhumanely,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36without any limitations of conscience?
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Milgram described the moment he conceived his experience
0:31:41 > 0:31:42as "incandescent".
0:31:42 > 0:31:46It was beautifully, almost fiendishly designed
0:31:46 > 0:31:49to reveal uncomfortable flaws about human nature.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51It made a huge impact worldwide.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56I remember, as a teenager, reading about it and later watching footage.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58It had an enormous impact on me.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01It influenced my later decision to train as a doctor
0:32:01 > 0:32:03with the intention of becoming a psychiatrist.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08It's nearly 50 years since the original experiment and today,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12I'm fortunate enough to be meeting one of the few remaining survivors.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16- Good morning.- Morning.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18- Hello, Michael Mosley.- Hi, Michael.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20- Bill Menold. Nice to meet you. - Thank you very much.
0:32:20 > 0:32:26'In 1962, Bill Menold had recently left the army and was working in New Haven.'
0:32:26 > 0:32:29I happened to see an ad in the New Haven Register
0:32:29 > 0:32:33and it said "memory and learning experiment".
0:32:33 > 0:32:37They were going to pay you 4. I thought,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39"Why wouldn't I do this?"
0:32:39 > 0:32:42I've got some footage here from Yale University.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47'Bill's participation in the experiment wasn't filmed, but other volunteers were.'
0:32:47 > 0:32:51- This guy here...- He was the pupil.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54This is basically the... experimenter.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- The experimenter.- The doctor.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01The experiment involved a teacher and a learner,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04who were given a simple set of memory tasks.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09If the learner got the answers wrong,
0:33:09 > 0:33:14the teacher had to give him electric shocks, which steadily increased.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Were you surprised when they talked about electric shocks?
0:33:17 > 0:33:19I wasn't aghast or anything,
0:33:19 > 0:33:24but I was, "Oh, electric shock, what a novel way to do it.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26"Who knows what they'll think of next?"
0:33:27 > 0:33:30What Bill and the other volunteers weren't told
0:33:30 > 0:33:31was that the electric shocks
0:33:31 > 0:33:35were fake and that both the experimenter and the learner
0:33:35 > 0:33:36were, in fact, actors.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42The real purpose of the experiment was to see how many electric shocks
0:33:42 > 0:33:45the volunteers like Bill would administer.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49It's very convincing, isn't it?
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Oh, it is Academy Award nomination.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56'Bill and the other volunteers were asked to increase the voltage
0:33:56 > 0:33:59'every time the learner got an answer wrong.'
0:33:59 > 0:34:03You're now getting a shock of 75 volts.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04Ow!
0:34:04 > 0:34:07180 volts.
0:34:07 > 0:34:08Ow!
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Just how far can you go on this thing?
0:34:11 > 0:34:15Despite the apparent pain they were inflicting,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18most continued to increase the shocks.
0:34:20 > 0:34:21Incorrect.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25150 volts.
0:34:25 > 0:34:26Ah!
0:34:26 > 0:34:29If you're sitting in that chair
0:34:29 > 0:34:30with this stuff going on,
0:34:30 > 0:34:37and the pressure that you're under, it's very hard to think clearly.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39I'm up to 180 volts!
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Please continue, teacher.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Neil, you're going to get a shock, 180 volts.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48- SWITCH CLICKS - Ow!
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Who's going to take the responsibility
0:34:50 > 0:34:52if anything happens to that gentleman?
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I'm responsible for anything that happens here.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Continue, please.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Milgram asked colleagues beforehand how many people they thought
0:35:00 > 0:35:03would administer the lethal 450-volt shock.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08Most said about 1%, and those would probably be psychopaths.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12195 volts. Dance!
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Ow! Let me out of here!
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Then they really cranked it up.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22You were talking about traumatic experiences.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27I've never had anything before or since that was like that.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Start with blue, please, at the top of the page.
0:35:30 > 0:35:31Continue, please, teacher.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35Did you at any point think that perhaps you'd killed him?
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Yes.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39When he stopped responding.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42The experiment requires that we continue. Go on, please.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Don't the man's health mean anything?
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- Whether the learner likes it or not...- He might be dead in there!
0:35:49 > 0:35:51I shut off my moral...
0:35:53 > 0:35:55compass.
0:35:55 > 0:35:56Continue, please.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59435 volts.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Once you make the decision...
0:36:05 > 0:36:08you've made your decision.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Let's get this show on the road and get it over with.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13The answer is "horse".
0:36:13 > 0:36:15450 volts.
0:36:17 > 0:36:18Next word.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Bill, like two thirds of the volunteers,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25gave the lethal electric shock.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30I thought Bill was very honest,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33particularly when he started to talk about that moment
0:36:33 > 0:36:35when he abandoned his moral compass
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and he handed over responsibility for his actions to the experimenter.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42I guess that's what Milgram demonstrated.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45We'd like to believe we're autonomous creatures,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48that we follow some sort of moral principles.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51But what Milgram showed is that, in the right circumstances,
0:36:51 > 0:36:56you can persuade someone to do almost anything.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00According to Milgram, Bill Menold and the other participants
0:37:00 > 0:37:03who administered lethal shocks were not psychopaths.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05They had simply demonstrated
0:37:05 > 0:37:09a striking willingness to obey authority.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12- Wrong.- It was this willingness to obey authority
0:37:12 > 0:37:15that shaped and controlled their behaviour.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17- SWITCH CLICKS - Ah!
0:37:18 > 0:37:22Milgram said it didn't matter if you were German or American,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25the power of authority remained the same.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Milgram's experiments catapulted him to worldwide fame,
0:37:34 > 0:37:39and he used his numerous television appearances to spread his ideas
0:37:39 > 0:37:40to a wider audience.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Now, one of the illusions about human behaviour
0:37:44 > 0:37:47is that it stems entirely from personality or character.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50But social psychology shows us that often,
0:37:50 > 0:37:51behaviour is dominated
0:37:51 > 0:37:53by the social roles we're asked to play.
0:37:55 > 0:37:56Revealing the pervasive
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and sometimes malign influence of authority
0:37:59 > 0:38:03chimed well with the anti-authority sentiments of the late 1960s.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10But Milgram's own motivation was not mistrust of authority.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15He wanted to understand WHY authority has such a hold over us.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19To do this, he took to the streets.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23- Yes, sir, where to?- 33 West 42nd.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Milgram started by pointing out how, unquestioningly,
0:38:26 > 0:38:31we obey authority figures in a whole range of different situations.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35In this setting, I allow things to be done to me
0:38:35 > 0:38:37that I wouldn't allow in any other context.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42The dentist is about to put his fist and electric drill into my mouth.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Open, please.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48In this setting,
0:38:48 > 0:38:53I willingly expose my throat to a man with a razor blade.
0:38:53 > 0:38:59What he did next would throw new light on why we're so obedient.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Milgram wanted to see how people would behave
0:39:01 > 0:39:04in a situation where there was no obvious authority.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08How would you react if a perfect stranger came up to you
0:39:08 > 0:39:12on the train and said, "I'd like your seat, please?"
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Well, this is exactly what Milgram and his students did
0:39:15 > 0:39:17on the New York subway.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Now, if you ask a New Yorker,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23would he give up his seat to a man who gives no reason for asking,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27he'd say, "Never." But what would he do? We photographed what happened.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Excuse me, ma'am, may I have your seat, please?
0:39:30 > 0:39:32- All right.- Thank you.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Excuse me, sir, may I have your seat, please?
0:39:36 > 0:39:38- I guess so.- Thank you very much.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43But would it work today?
0:39:43 > 0:39:47I decided to repeat his experiment in a London shopping centre.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Excuse me, could I have that seat, please?
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- Huh?- Could I have that seat, please?
0:39:53 > 0:39:55- Yeah?- Could I sit there?- Why?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I'd like to sit down.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59If you gave me a reason...
0:39:59 > 0:40:04- Excuse me, could I have that seat, please?- Yeah, sure.
0:40:04 > 0:40:05Thank you very much.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13- Excuse me, could I have your seat, please?- Yeah, sure.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Thank you very much.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22I was surprised by how many people complied
0:40:22 > 0:40:25with my totally unreasonable request - about half.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Excuse me, could I have that seat please?
0:40:29 > 0:40:30- Yeah.- OK, thank you.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35Excuse me, could I sit there, please?
0:40:35 > 0:40:39- Why do you want to sit here? - I want to sit down.- Pardon?
0:40:39 > 0:40:44- I want to sit down.- Why can't you sit here?- Can I sit there?
0:40:44 > 0:40:47- Is that a yes or a no?- No.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52But what really surprised me
0:40:52 > 0:40:56was just how difficult I personally found the whole experience.
0:40:56 > 0:41:02My real feeling at this moment is one of just profound relief
0:41:02 > 0:41:03that it's done.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07I felt really uncomfortable throughout the whole thing.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09This is also what Milgram felt.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13I stood in front of a passenger and I was about to say,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15"Excuse me, sir, may I have your seat?"
0:41:15 > 0:41:19I found something very interesting. There was an enormous inhibition.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22The words wouldn't come out. I simply couldn't utter them.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25There was a terrible constraint against saying this simple phrase.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29Milgram concluded that feeling socially awkward
0:41:29 > 0:41:33and embarrassed plays an important role in governing our behaviour.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35We don't like breaking the social rules,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39whether it's asking for someone's seat for no good reason,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41or disobeying the instruction of somebody
0:41:41 > 0:41:42whose authority we have accepted.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45In ordinary everyday situations,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48there's an implicit set of rules as to who's in charge.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51If we violate these rules, it leads to the disruption of behaviour,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54to embarrassment, awkwardness, to a kind of social chaos.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00Ordinarily, we accept the submissive role that the occasion requires.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04According to Milgram,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09compliance in society and obedience to authority is necessary.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Our social organisation depends on it.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14If we're to have a society,
0:42:14 > 0:42:19we must have members of society willing to obey its laws.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21It's not simply a question
0:42:21 > 0:42:24of whether or not we want to be controlled.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27According to Milgram, our social organisation demands it.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39As a means of control, there's no doubt that social pressure
0:42:39 > 0:42:43is ever-present and highly effective.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48But social pressure, like drugs or behaviour modification,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50or even Pavlovian training,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52wasn't able to deliver total mind control.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57There was, however, still one group of scientists who believed
0:42:57 > 0:43:01they could control behaviour and emotions with pinpoint accuracy.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08To do so, they would have to develop techniques
0:43:08 > 0:43:11to go directly into the brain.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13CRACKLING
0:43:14 > 0:43:17Are you sleepy or awake or what?
0:43:17 > 0:43:18I'm awake now.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23The origins of this approach lie in a series of bizarre experiments
0:43:23 > 0:43:27conducted by an ambitious doctor in the American Deep South.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Psychiatrist Robert Heath was a maverick and a pioneer.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37From the early 1950s onwards, in New Orleans, he used electrodes
0:43:37 > 0:43:42to stimulate and also to map out his patients' brains.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44DOORBELL RINGS
0:43:44 > 0:43:47- John! Hello, buddy. - Welcome, good to see you.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49John Goethe and James Eaton
0:43:49 > 0:43:53worked with Heath on many of his more ambitious experiments.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55He wanted to be a discoverer.
0:43:55 > 0:44:01- He wanted to find a new path. - But there was no question
0:44:01 > 0:44:03that there was, um...
0:44:03 > 0:44:06a light side and a dark side.
0:44:06 > 0:44:07I really loved the guy,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09but if you love someone,
0:44:09 > 0:44:10and you're very close to them,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12you see all sorts of warts.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14He had plenty of warts.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Heath was not afraid of controversy.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22He passionately believed you had to experiment on humans
0:44:22 > 0:44:25to make truly significant medical breakthroughs.
0:44:27 > 0:44:33He conducted his most controversial research in the state of Louisiana.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38At the time, the consent process was not as rigorous as it is now.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43His goal was ambitious - to see if he could alter behaviour
0:44:43 > 0:44:46by sticking electrodes into people's brains.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Heath was inspired by experiments that had been done on rats.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Electrodes were implanted directly into areas of the rat's brain
0:44:58 > 0:45:02believed to be responsible for pleasure.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07When the rat pressed the lever, it stimulated these areas.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09The scientists found that this process
0:45:09 > 0:45:11could dramatically change the rat's normal behaviour.
0:45:14 > 0:45:15BUZZING
0:45:15 > 0:45:18This rat is prepared to run across an electrified floor
0:45:18 > 0:45:22to reach the lever, press it, and get a pleasure kick.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32Heath decided to take the extreme step of trying this on humans.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37How do you feel?
0:45:37 > 0:45:41It's...like coming on.
0:45:41 > 0:45:42Hmm?
0:45:42 > 0:45:45- Like coming on. - Like something coming on?
0:45:45 > 0:45:47What do you mean?
0:45:49 > 0:45:52'The depth electrode procedure'
0:45:52 > 0:45:57involved placing these very thin wires through the skull
0:45:57 > 0:46:00and into precisely located areas
0:46:00 > 0:46:04thought to be important in the regulation of emotion.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08This idea that the emotions are deep in the temporal lobes,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10rather than being on the surface,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12was an idea shared by many,
0:46:12 > 0:46:17but he's the one who actually put a needle, put an electrode in,
0:46:17 > 0:46:19in there and turned on the juice.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Can you keep pushing this yourself?
0:46:22 > 0:46:25- Yes, sir. - All right, push this button.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27'They had these little boxes'
0:46:27 > 0:46:31and they had the electrodes in their head.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35Whenever they felt they needed a little goose or something,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38again, I'm simplifying it, but they could press it.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40All right, push this button.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42You know how to work this.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45Heath's early patients were schizophrenics,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47severe epileptics and depressives.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50I feel like something is coming on.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54- All right. Does it feel? How does it feel? Good or bad?- Good.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56- Good?- Yes, sir.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57Like the rats,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01these human patients were able to stimulate their own brains
0:47:01 > 0:47:05and use this pleasurable sensation to alleviate their symptoms.
0:47:08 > 0:47:14- Well, I think it's... I think it's somewhat of a sexy button.- Yeah?
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Encouraged by his results, Heath began to explore ways of using
0:47:17 > 0:47:21deep brain stimulation to create new behaviours.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27His most infamous experiment was on a 24-year-old man
0:47:27 > 0:47:31with a long history of depression who had never had sex with a woman.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36He approached Heath and asked him to change him,
0:47:36 > 0:47:38to change his behaviour,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42because he was gay and he wanted to become straight.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45At the time, being gay was regarded as a psychiatric illness,
0:47:45 > 0:47:46so Heath agreed.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51He wasn't the first to do this. Other people had tried,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54but nobody had done so using electrical stimulation.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57Heath implanted a series of electrodes
0:47:57 > 0:48:00into the pleasure regions of the man's brain.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Then he was shown some soft porn.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09The idea was to link, in the man's mind, the pleasure he was getting
0:48:09 > 0:48:11from the electrical stimulation
0:48:11 > 0:48:16with the heterosexual behaviour he was watching on the screen.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21At the end of the three-week period,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25the man reported that he had growing sexual interest in women.
0:48:25 > 0:48:31So Heath decided to go to the next stage. Now, this really is bizarre.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35What he did is, he hired a prostitute for 50,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38a woman he called a "lady of the night".
0:48:38 > 0:48:41Her job was to have sex with a gay man
0:48:41 > 0:48:44with electrodes sticking out of his head.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47The wires led to recording devices in the next room,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49where the psychiatrists were keeping a record
0:48:49 > 0:48:52of what was going on inside his skull.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Well, astonishingly enough, I mean, I'm absolutely gobsmacked,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01but astonishingly enough, according to Heath,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04intercourse was successful.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07In fact, the man said he'd had so much fun,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10got so much pleasure out of it,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14he would like to go and do it again and again.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16Unlikely as it sounds,
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Heath's use of electrode stimulation seemed to have worked.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22But his patient's desire to become heterosexual
0:49:22 > 0:49:24wasn't entirely fulfilled.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29The young man went off and he did actually begin
0:49:29 > 0:49:32an affair with a married woman that lasted for ten months.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35But he also continued to have sex with men.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37So a rather mixed outcome,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and Heath himself never tried to repeat the experiment.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46- Huh?- Ooh...- You all right? - I don't like that.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48You don't like that?
0:49:48 > 0:49:50Heath's methods were primitive,
0:49:50 > 0:49:54but they did pave the way for some important medical developments.
0:49:57 > 0:50:02Today, the technique of deep brain stimulation has been refined
0:50:02 > 0:50:05and improved, and is now used to treat a range of conditions.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13It has been particularly successful for sufferers of Parkinson's.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Electrodes are placed in the areas of the brain
0:50:17 > 0:50:20that control movement and help to reduce symptoms.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26However, implanting electrodes involves major surgery
0:50:26 > 0:50:29and the risks are considerable.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Although it is a huge improvement
0:50:32 > 0:50:36on what went before, electrical stimulation is still fairly crude.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Even the most carefully positioned of electrodes
0:50:39 > 0:50:42stimulates a large area of brain matter,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44consisting of thousands of cells.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47But just recently, the technology has moved on.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Here at Oxford University,
0:50:51 > 0:50:55they have found new ways to manipulate the brain
0:50:55 > 0:50:59and control behaviour using a technique called optogenetics.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04With optogenetics, scientists can control the brain
0:51:04 > 0:51:05simply using light.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09I'm here to meet neuroscientist Gero Miesenbock,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13who's been refining his technique on flies.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15- Hello, there.- Hello.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17- Michael Mosley.- Gero Miesenbock.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19I gather you are lord of the flies?
0:51:19 > 0:51:21In some circles, I am, yes.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24And how many flies do you have here?
0:51:24 > 0:51:28We haven't really counted them, but we have thousands of, erm,
0:51:28 > 0:51:29vials like these.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Each vial has maybe 50-100 flies in them, so you do the math.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35It's probably millions buzzing around somewhere.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38- Millions. You are lord of the flies! - Yeah.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Miesenbock earned his nickname
0:51:42 > 0:51:47through his ability to control and manipulate the choices flies make.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52We've come quite far in controlling not only simple motor acts
0:51:52 > 0:51:57of the animals, but actually their psychology in rather profound ways.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00I don't think of flies as having a psychology!
0:52:00 > 0:52:03You just haven't worked with them for long enough.
0:52:03 > 0:52:04Can we see it in action?
0:52:04 > 0:52:07- Yeah, let's take a look.- OK.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Controlling a fly's psychology is possible.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14Because of the 200,000 or so cells that make up their brains,
0:52:14 > 0:52:19he has managed to isolate a few that are responsible for learning.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22We did find a particular small group of just 12 cells
0:52:22 > 0:52:25lying in the central brain.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28These 12 cells don't dictate behaviour per se.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31They dictate whether behaviour should be changed.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34And dictating whether behaviour should be changed
0:52:34 > 0:52:35is a crucial part of learning.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Miesenbock likens the role of this group of cells
0:52:39 > 0:52:41to that of a nagging critic.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Critic is, if you wish,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47the structure that holds the key to intelligence.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50It's the structure that decides whether something is good or bad,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52whether it's right or wrong.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Sort of the brain's version of the Catholic Church,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57if you're an Austrian like me,
0:52:57 > 0:53:02or the superego if you're Freudian or your mother if you're Jewish.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Miesenbock has genetically engineered his flies
0:53:06 > 0:53:10so that he can switch on this negative nagging critical voice
0:53:10 > 0:53:13simply by exposing them to blue light.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16When the blue light comes on, the cells are activated
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and the flies start to learn.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22The flies are taught to dislike whatever is in their surroundings
0:53:22 > 0:53:27when the blue light is on. This is then stored as a bad memory.
0:53:27 > 0:53:28In this experiment,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32the flies are taught to dislike the smell of liquorice.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Each of these chambers contains just one fly.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39- Right.- And the fly walks up and down the length of the chamber.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43And, um, the left and the right half of the chamber
0:53:43 > 0:53:45are each filled with a different odour.
0:53:45 > 0:53:50One of these smells a bit like, as they say, a tennis shoe in July.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- Right.- And the other one a little bit like liquorice.- Liquorice, OK.
0:53:53 > 0:53:59You can see that, before our optogenetic intervention,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02the fly just explores the chamber in its entirety.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05They start off not caring one way or the other
0:54:05 > 0:54:08- and you're going to manipulate their choice?- Exactly.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12When the blue light is switched on,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15the chamber is flooded with the smell of liquorice.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19OK, now, the effect of this light is to turn on the 12 cells
0:54:19 > 0:54:21of the critic in the fly's brain.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25- And that then leads to the implantation of memory.- Right.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28When the blue light switches off,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31the chamber returns to its original smells.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Tennis shoes on the left, liquorice on the right.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38So now, because of that blue light,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41the fly has come to associate the smell of liquorice
0:54:41 > 0:54:42with something it doesn't like,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45something it needs to avoid, something it should avoid. Right.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49What you see is, it's backtracking already. It made a mistake.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51It stepped into the odour of liquorice,
0:54:51 > 0:54:52which is on the right here.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56Now it's back in tennis shoe, which is on the left.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58And you see, whenever it reaches
0:54:58 > 0:55:01the interface between the two odours, it recoils.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06You can almost see how it goes, "Eugh, this is awful!"
0:55:06 > 0:55:08- And turns around. - It's very impressive.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10The ability of optogenetics
0:55:10 > 0:55:13to pinpoint and act on very specific cells
0:55:13 > 0:55:17in the brain suggests it could be used in the future
0:55:17 > 0:55:19for modifying human behaviour.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23I think there's medical benefits in many possible directions,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26the neurons that matter for a particular brain function,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28be it appetite control,
0:55:28 > 0:55:32mood, anxiety, sleep and wakefulness, attention, you name it.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34But there are some major obstacles
0:55:34 > 0:55:37to optogenetically controlling humans.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41I think it's not something that's around the corner
0:55:41 > 0:55:43in the next few years, because, remember,
0:55:43 > 0:55:44for optogenetics to work,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47you would have to genetically modify the brain...
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Indeed, which we are some way off doing at the moment.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55Exactly. A fly normally doesn't mind, but I certainly would
0:55:55 > 0:55:58if you wanted to implant light receptors into my brain.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Now, that really was quite astonishing,
0:56:05 > 0:56:07the idea that you can control
0:56:07 > 0:56:11really quite sophisticated behaviour in a fly
0:56:11 > 0:56:12just by manipulating 12 neurons.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15It's astonishing and also slightly worrying,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18because it makes you wonder whether the same is true of humans.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22But I think that because human brains are so much bigger
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and more complex than insect brains,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27it is going to be a long time,
0:56:27 > 0:56:31if ever, before technology like that is applied to us.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40I've no doubt the technology used to study the brain
0:56:40 > 0:56:42will continue to advance...
0:56:44 > 0:56:48And that in doing so, we will make giant strides in understanding
0:56:48 > 0:56:50the workings of our own minds.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54But what I find reassuring is that,
0:56:54 > 0:56:57although many people have tried to manipulate our minds,
0:56:57 > 0:57:03the human brain has so far proved to be too complex to finely control,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06our personalities too resilient.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Down the years, the brain has been pushed around,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14probed, drugged and electrified.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20But it remains impressively hard to control,
0:57:20 > 0:57:22and I find that very comforting.