“‘The possibility of scientific annihilation of personal identity, or even worse, its purposeful control, has sometimes been considered a future threat

So wrote Dr Jose Delgado in his 1969 book Physical Control of the Mind: Toward a Psychocivilised Society. Delgado documents the myriad applications of electrical stimulation of the brain, from helping the blind see again to keeping criminals and dissidents under remote control. The Spanish neurologist’s hopes rested on a device he called the ‘stimoceiver’. Once inserted into the required part of the brain, the remotely operated stimoceiver could stimulate it electrically. In a dramatic demonstration in the early 1960s, Delgado entered a bullring and, at the press of a button, stopped a charging bull dead in its tracks. Delgado saw great potential in his creation, but he did note one possible problem: ‘The existence of wires leading from the brain to the stimoceiver outside of the scalp… could be a hindrance to hair grooming.'” This essay explores how the technology has fared in the three-plus decades since Delgado’s controversial pronouncements. —Guardian.UK