Air Force psychological operations interested in neurobiology of dread (anticipation of pain)
A study last year on the neurobiology of dread gives an idea of what our military Psychological Operations folks are paying attention to. A link on this Air Force Psychological Operations web site is to this article on a recent study on the neurobiology of dread: The Real Pain of Dread with this intrguing subtitle: According to brain-imaging studies, the anticipation of pain can be just as agonizing as the experience of it.
While this research appears to be benign in intention, having been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it sure is interesting that it is one of a very few research papers cited by the Air Force PSYOPS folks. After all, creating an anticipation of pain is a central element in the United States” psychological torture paradigm.
It also makes one wonder what the calls for increased neurobiological research into interrogation strategies may actually be about.
1 comment May 14th, 2007