The iPlant is a hypothetical brain implant that would be similar to the deep brain stimulation devices currently being tested. It has been proposed by Christopher Harris in an article entitled "Program Yourself". The idea would be to place an implant device in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), substantia nigra and the raphe nuclei. Doing this would allow the regulation of mood altering neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. The discussion about this device and its potential uses is fairly interesting.

Christopher Harris brings up many good points on his website and his blog Brain Implant. He suggests several potential problems for this type of technology.

Involuntary mind control
Many people worry that the iPlant could allow complete control over someone's thoughts and behavior against their will (similar to The Manchurian Candidate). However, let's not overstate the level of control that brain stimulation reward could give you over another person. The function generates motivation by repeatedly reinforcing specific, simple behaviors. In animal models this training process takes time and works only for elementary behaviors (e.g. physical exercise), making total behavioral control over another person unlikely. It may be possible to reprogram an iPlant user to endlessly perform some repetitive action against their will, but since the implant would contain no radio receiver this would have to involve kidnapping the person, which seems like an excessively laborious way of causing harm. However, an authoritarian regime may create factories of workers addicted to manual labour. This problem remains unsolved and underscores the need for democratic oversight.

Inequality
iPlants could create a division in society between the haves and the have-nots. This could become a problem for people who can't afford an iPlant, can't have one for medical reasons, or who simply don't want one. This problem is currently being discussed.

Self-stimulation addiction
People might try to bypass the need to perform difficult tasks and self-stimulate ad infinitum (similar to Larry Niven's "wireheads"). This problem may be avoided by ensuring robust access control by the manufacturer. This problem is currently being discussed.

Over-use
People could become too dependent on their iPlants brain stimulation reward function for motivation. This may be detrimental to one's ability to exercise self-dicipline without the help of the iPlant, and to one's feeling of self-worth. It underscores the need to regulate the way the iPlant is used (access control). This problem is currently being discussed.

Access control
Several factors suggest that iPlants will have to be subject to robust access control by their manufacturer. This raises problems of trust on the one hand and of security and hacking on the other. This problem is currently being discussed.

Blog covering several topics about the Brain, Neuroscience, Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence

The prospect of manipulating our minds with machines has for decades been considered a cybernetic fantasy belonging to the realm of literature and cinema, now, after “softening up” by advances in science and science fiction, far fewer people find the notion of neuro-enhancement troublesome. Its potential clients are not just the radicals who long for a post-human future, but ordinary people who grew up in the information age. Join us as MINDWARE aims to chronicle the first steps of an experiment set out to provide genuine human benefit for the millions currently suffering from severe mental disorders such as depression.

As our characters undergo the treatment, the film will as well lay out the cultural aspects this experiment holds: The longing for an age when human beings will leave the miseries and limits of the body behind, and achieve new ecstasies of freedom and control has been expressed in many artworks, literature, and cinema.

MINDWARE will produce two “visionary” scenes in which we’ll include an interview with a eading futurist and an illustration imagery that will cinematically support his visions. We'll present one utopian and one dystopian visions. These future prospects will add an in depth cultural layer to the film and will situate this experiment somewhere between the fantastic and the real therapeutic value of assisting people who suffer from depression.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive technique used to apply brief magnetic pulses to the brain. The pulses are administered by passing high currents through an electromagnetic coil placed adjacent to a patient's scalp. The pulses induce an electric field in the underlying brain tissue. When the induced field is above a certain threshold, and is directed in an appropriate orientation relative the brain's neuronal pathways, localized axonal depolarizations are produced, thus activating the neurons in the relevant brain structure.

Standard TMS coils are limited to activation of only cortical brain regions, up to a depth of about 1.5 cm. Hence when treating depression with a standard TMS system, the limbic system, which is related to mood regulation and is generally deeper than 1.5 cm, is only indirectly affected, through secondary processes involving cortical structures, which are directly activated by TMS and then affect the deeper limbic system structures.

The unique technology of Brainsway Deep TMS System enables direct non-invasive activation of deep brain structures.

Deep TMS is a breakthrough in the search for a non-invasive approach for treating common brain disorders. Deep TMS uses a unique, patented coil design to produce directed electromagnetic fields that can induce excitation or inhibition of neurons deep inside the brain. The treatment is non-invasive, with no significant side effects, no systemic effect (in contrast to drugs), and no need of hospitalization or anesthesia.