LETTER TO MR. ROBERT P. GOW FROM W. ROSS ADEY, MD

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 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R0004000800  -7
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES                              oRD #~   _7
 Mr. Robert P. Gow
 President
 Develco, Inc.
 530 Logue Avenue
 Mountain View, California  94040
 DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY
 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
 THE CENTER FOR THE HEALTH SCIENCES
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA   90024
 May 30, 1973
 I am responding to your letter of May 24, and to the enclosed
 draft of your gneeral letter of proposal.  As indicated in your
 draft, I had promised an'overview of our work relevant to this
 proposal, and I apologize for my, remissness in not sending it to
 you sooner.
 Let me first set a structural and functional frame for the brain
 and central nervous system which will be brief enough yet sufficiently
 explicit to allow interpretation of what follows by any competent communi-
 cations engineer.   This is a frame that has g,.-own up in great degree from
 our own research. It will thus have a strong color attributable to our
 group, and in some degree will be nonclassical, and will still lack
 acceptance by some prestigious neurobiologists.  Nevertheless, there is
 an increasing body of opinion from respected leaders in neurobiological
 research, particularly those involved in molecular biology and neuro-
 chemistry, who see the need for a substantial updating in our accepted
 view of brain organization.   This latter view is now appearing because
 of the increasing tide of observations on brain organization for which
 classical explanations are inadequate.
 First, a functional sensitivity of the human central nervous system
 has been demonstrated in several laboratories to very weak electric fields
 in air where these fields are oscillating at brain wave frequencies.  The
 strength of the fields is of the order of 25 mV per centimeter and the
 effects include altered reaction times, altered subjective estimates of
 .the passage of time, and alterations in daily body rhythms, including
 body temperature cycles and sleep/wakefulness cycles.   Part of this work
 .has been done in our laboratory.   We have also tested the effects of
 VHF fields with the same electric intensity.   In animals, these fields
 are potent in modifying states of sleep and wakefulness,?and.:'n modifying
 specific internal brain rhythms that represent or are associated with
 behavioral responses.   The VHF field studies showed an absence of effect
 with unmodulated,fields, and selective effects with different modulating
 frequencies between 3 and 16 Hz.
 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000400080005-7
 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000400080005-7
 Mr. Robert P. Gow
 Mountain View, California  94040                             May 30, 1973
 Page Two
 The emphasis on these functional interactions has to be in terms
 of their very weak strength.   For example, the total current induced
 by the low-frequency fields in the head of the monkey is slightly less
 than 1 nanoampere.  If we compare the electric gradient in the tissue
 with that producing actual synaptic depolarization, it is almost 11 orders
 of magnitude less.  For these reasons, classical synaptic physiology
 cannot be adduced as an explanation for these phenomena.
 For that reason, much molecular biology and biophysical research
 has been directed to possible ways in which nerve cells may sense
 changes in their environment, without invoking classical theories
 of synaptic activation.  It is feasible that the surface of nerve
 cell membranes may act as transducers for extremely weak chemical
 and electrical influences through the sensitivity of a charged
 sheet of glue-like molecules covering the cell surface.   Such a role
 has already been proiren for sensitivity to hormones and drugs that
 alter nerve cell-action in extremely small concentrations.  This  is
 the most radical aspect of the changed anatomy and physiology now being
 hypothesized and tested to explain these interactions.
 of itneraction of the nerve cell with these weak environmental influences.
 There is thus a very important class of problems in the biophysics of
 membrane transducing.  A second and equally important class of problems
 concerns the way in which groups of nerve cells may interact with each
 other so that their summed behavior is modified by such weak influences.
 Both classes of process, molecular on---the one hand and as a neuronal
 population characteristic on the other, probably involve interactions
 classed as "cooperative" in the terminology of physicists.  Work in
 this area is only beginning in terms of biological models and in
 evaluation of biological interactions.  Progress will be slow but the
 significance is so great that a program of this kind should be framed
 to,allow at least .5 years of concerted effort with relatively few fruits
 of a "reportable" kind in the initial years.  This point must be emphasized
 in an age when short-term rewards are almost a sine qua non for the program
 manager.   On the other hand, it should be emphasized that promoters of this
 program are not seeking a fishing license just to pursue a diletante.interest?
 From the foregoing, it seems clear that there are possibilities for
 a whole range of .;.odulations and modifications of human behavioral patterns,
 based on the interactions with a wide variety of environmental fields.   To
 I turn now to the future, from the viewpoint that these preliminary
 studies indicate a feasibility to manipulate and control brain states
 by modification of the environmental electromagnetic "atmosphere".
 First, a long range research program is much needed to specify in
 much greater degree than has been possible to date the precise mode
 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000400080005-7
 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000400080005-7
 Mr. Robert P. Gow
 Mountain View, California  94040                              May 30, 1973
 Page Three
 this time, work has focused on quite simplistic aspects of carrier
 frequency selection and on equally simple modulation patterns that
 have been selected on a quite arbitrary basis within the spectrum
 of none brain wave activity.  We may anticipate a substantive increase
 in capability through carefully planned research on frequency selections.
 The outcome is likely to be an optimizing of states of attention with
 increased learning capability, or the reduction in levels of awareness,
 and in induction of sleep states.   It is highly likely that this type
 of manipulation can have therapeutic significance in achieving desired
 changes in widespread medical problems, such as insomnia and endocrine
 disorders, such. as menstrual irregularity.
 Less clear to me at this time, but perhaps no less feasible, will
 be detection of bioelectric and biomagnetic phenomena.at a distance
 from the subject without the need for contact electrodes.  Already,
 work in cryomagnetometry has yielded important new capabilities in
 monitoring heart and brain function.  Within the established theoretical
 sensitivity of the Josephson junction technique lie.many physiological
 parameters from which an assessment of subject status may well be
 possible.  Current research in this field has been limited by the
 funding available for research in the needed instrumentation.  Until
 basic laboratory techniques have been well enough evaluated,little or
 nothing can be done in development of instrumentation for field use.
 Also in the forefront of serious problems for the method currently
 is its susceptibility to environmental electrical magnetic pollution.
 Much will surely be done if funding is available to improve the differen-
 tialPs sensitivity to the important biological signals.
 Again, in this prospective view of needed monitoring instrumentation,
 is the prospect that advances will be slow and the needed effort must be
 extremely dedicated if we are to succeed at all.  Yet I have no doubt
 that these goals can be achieved if adequate support is forthcoming.
 I hope that this overview, though lengthy, will give you a perspective
 on whatI genuinely believe to be possible as the next step in highly
 important medical monitoring systems.   Their social significance is
 likely to eclipse all previous developments in medical instrumentation.
 The,time to begin is now and progress will surely be slow.   I hope that
 these opinions will assist you in completing your documentation.
 With my best regards.
 Sincerely,
 W. Ross Adey, M. D.
 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000400080005-7
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