Dr. Jose M. R. Delgado of [Yale University] is one of the leading pioneers in ... E.S.B.: electrical stimulation of the brain. He is also the impassioned prophet of a new "psychocivilized" society whose members would influence and alter their own mental functions to create a "happier, less destructive and better balanced man." [Delgado said,] "We know that [E.S.B.] can delay a heartbeat, move a finger, bring a word to memory, evoke a sensation." [His] animals performed like electrical toys. One monkey, Ludy, each time she was stimulated [would] stand up on two feet and circle to the right; climb a pole and then descend again. This "automatism" was repeated [by Ludy] through 20,000 stimulations! The tickling of a few electric volts can send a monkey into a deep sleep, or snap him awake. Similarly, human beings are unable to resist motor responses elicited by E.S.B. Large-scale studies of rats with electrodes in [a] "pleasureful area" found that they preferred E.S.B. above all elseincluding water, sex and food. Sometimes ravenously hungry rats, ignoring nearby food, would stimulate themselves up to 5,000 times an hour"persisting with manic singleness of purpose for more than a day running, until they keeled over on the floor in a faint! "In humans also ... states of arousal and pleasure have been evoked" ... Delgado added. One patient of ours was a rather reserved 30-year-old woman. E.S.B. at one cerebral point made her suddenly confess her passionate regard for the therapist"whom she'd never seen before." According to one psychoanalyst, "The danger of this being abused is ... tremendous."
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