A new technology has been developed for the exploration of cerebral mechanisms in behaving subjects, and it has already provided data about the intracerebral correlates of learning, memory, drives, performance, and other aspects of mental functions. This methodology has proved that movements, sensations, emotions, desires, ideas, and a variety of psychological phenomena may be induced, inhibited, or modified by electrical stimulation of specific areas of the brain. These facts have changed the classical philosophical concept that the mind was beyond experimental reach.

To study psychic mechanisms it is convenient to identify and to investigate the elements responsible for the initiation of mental activity at birth and for its continuation throughout life. The newborn baby lacks detectable mental activity, and the reception of sensory information from the environment is absolutely necessary for the development of psychic manifestations. The adult is also dependent on a continuous reception of sensory inputs for the preservation of mental normality.

Understanding and study of the essential and continuous dependence of the mind on sensory reception will favor man's social integration because it shows that we cannot live alone and that we need constant inputs of information and sensations from the environment for our mental survival. At the same time, understanding and experimental investigation of the genetic, environmental, and intracerebral elements which determine mental structure will favor the intelligent selection of these

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elements, and thus increase the basis for individual differentiation and personal freedom.

Many scientists have already been attracted by the potential of the neurobehavioral sciences. Brain research institutes flourish, publications are increasing in number, and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) was recently founded to promote study of the central nervous system and to encourage international collaboration in this field. The social sciences, which have a behavioral rather than a physiological orientation, are also in rapid development, partly because of increasing public awareness of ghettos, juvenile violence, educational problems, and general social unrest. Social scientists investigate interpersonal and intergroup relations, considering factors like the emotions, economy, culture, and working conditions, all of which are involved in man's adaptation to his ever more complex surroundings. The source of behavioral interactions, however, and the mechanisms underlying anxiety, violence, drives, and motivations depend on mental activities, which are usually excluded from these studies. Both the neurobehavioral and the social sciences are very active fields, but their present rate of growth is too slow and their objectives too limited to give adequate support to the ambitious project of improving the present imbalance of civilization.

I am well aware that although learning has detectable electrical correlates in the brain and emotional behavior may be controlled by cerebral radio stimulation in monkey colonies, these and similar facts are rather distant from the problems created and the solutions required by juvenile delinquency or by international tensions. We must realize, however, that the potential of new fields must be evaluated by the importance of the newly discovered principles and their possible future applications.

When Papin saw the lid of a pot being raised by boiling water and expressed this phenomenon as a physical law, it would have been difficult to foresee electricity being produced by steam-driven turbines or ocean liners crossing the seas. The experimental reality was a daily household occurrence; understanding the

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potential applications of the principle was transcendental. If we could modify mental mechanisms intelligently, the consequences would be far more important than the consequences of extending man's life span or limiting his birth rate, because to influence mental processes is to influence the source of all human activities.

To increase significantly the manpower and resources devoted to neurobehavioral sciences it will be necessary first to make the public as well as the scientific and political authorities aware that an effort of unusual proportions is essential, explaining the reasons for this effort along with the consequences and possible individual and social gains. Second, it should be made known that the necessary technology is already available and that significant results have already been obtained. Third, a strategy should be developed to mobilize public opinion, talent, and resources. This strategy requires interdisciplinary collaboration in order to organize a general plan of action which should include the following aspects.

Acquisition of new knowledge is the cornerstone of scientific advance, and a massive increase in research into the cerebral mechanisms of mental activity could be initiated simply by applying the available technology on a larger scale. This effort, however, cannot be generated by the scientists themselves but must be promoted and organized by governmental action declaring "conquering of the human mind" a national goal at parity with conquering of poverty or landing a man on the moon. National agencies should be created in order to coordinate plans, budgets, and actions just as NASA in the United States has directed public interest and technology, launching the country into the adventures and accomplishments of outer space. Fortunately brain research is much less expensive, and rather than building up new industrial empires, it is necessary to create neurobehavioral institutes with the specific purpose of investigating the mechanisms of the behaving brain, while more

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basic neurophysiological research continues at its normal rate of growth. These institutes require interdisciplinary organization because their main purpose will be to correlate genetics, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and psychopharmacology with behavioral, mental, and sociological phenomena. The main aim is to establish a scientific foundation for the creation of a future psychocivilized society based on a better understanding of mental activities, on the liberation from the domination of irrational mental determinants, on the establishment of personal freedom through intelligent choice, and on a balance between the material and mental development of civilization with the power of reason directing the use of increasing technological control of our physical environment. The research will be oriented toward its application to psychology, psychiatry, and education without excluding philosophical implications.

The project of conquering the human mind could be a central theme for international cooperation and understanding because its aim is to know the mechanisms of the brain, which make all men behave and misbehave, which give us pleasure and suffering, which promote love and hate. The differences in genetic potential among men are magnified grotesquely, like shadows on a wall, by the educational environment in which they find themselves. Even if political ideas, cultural values, and behavioral reactivity vary, the basic physical, intellectual, and emotional needs of man are the same and must have similar neurophysiological mechanisms which can be investigated. Hate and destruction are not functional properties of the brain but elements introduced through sensory inputs into the neuronal reactivity; they originate not within the person, but in the environment.

Interdisciplinary communication is always important, but it is even more essential in the neurobehavioral sciences because they are at the crossroads of diverse disciplines. Cross-communication should involve investigators not only in related biological fields but also in areas which ordinarily have less contact with

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neural sciences, like sociology, pedagogy, and philosophy. At present there is an important body of knowledge about cerebral physiology and behavioral responses that has not been absorbed into general scientific texts and has not evoked the philosophical repercussions it deserves. Specialists usually recognize the need to communicate beyond their own discipline, but in practice they often neglect to do so, and this should be one of the purposes of the neurobehavioral institutes.

In free enterprise systems, a shift in manpower requires the attraction and training of the corresponding personnel, and this is usually accomplished by offering intellectual, economic, and social incentives. With this procedure, talented workers have been attracted to newly developing fields such as electronics and outer space technology, and it will be necessary in the neurobehavioral field as well. In this case, however, something else is needed because a plan designed to modify the orientation of civilization and to improve the balance between mechanization and mentalization must be based on suitable education of youth, beginning with elementary schools and continuing through the highest levels.

Educators and psychologists have recognized that the intellectual and emotional impact of training received at an early age is decisive for the rest of one's life. Important conceptions about mental activities and the functioning of the brain which will have great influence on the student's future development should be introduced as early as possible—just as today's child is confronted with information about man's escape from his terrestrial environment via interplanetary flights. These subjects should continue with greater sophistication at secondary school and college levels, competing for teaching time with all other subjects. What I am proposing is a modification of the curriculum

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to introduce the discipline of "psychogenesis." Its purpose would be to teach factual scientific material about cerebral mechanisms, to increase the student's awareness of his own mental and behavioral activity, and to show him how to use his intelligence to decide which behavioral determinants to accept and which to reject. The present orientation of courses in psychology and sociology should be adapted and expanded according to this plan.

Understanding of the mechanisms of individual and social behavior could be an important feedback factor for the modulation of behavioral responses because this understanding will simultaneously increase the importance of individual intellect and decrease the power of irrational automatisms. Education of the general public would be facilitated by the natural interest in understanding the activity of our own minds. The mass media must be mobilized for this purpose, and preparation of entertaining and informative programs should be encouraged and promoted by the neurobehavioral institutes.

A host of medical, ethical, legal, and political questions are involved in the possibility of intelligent choice among behavioral determinants and their control. Each of these aspects deserves careful study and should form part of the general plan of action.

I want to emphasize that human happiness is a relative value and depends as much on mental interpretation as on environmental reality. A better understanding of mental mechanisms will favor the pursuit of happiness and diminish the unnecessary suffering of human beings. The direction of the colossal forces discovered by man requires the development of mental qualities able to apply intelligence not only to the domination of nature but also to the civilization of the human psyche.