From neurosurgery to neuro-terrorism, over the past century the human brain has been a battlefield over which rival theories, treatments and beliefs have fought relentless campaigns for supremacy. Is the brain an organ on cognition which can be treated as any other part of the human anatomy, or something that can only be accessed as a set of precepts and behaviour patterns? Is psychotherapy a form of ideological programming? Is surgical intervention little more than clinically sanctioned violence? Fierce arguments have raged over a possible answer to these questions - and that is before the military and the intelligence agencies grew interested in the brain's workings during the height of the Cold War, resulting in psychiatric wards and medical research programmes being turned into training grounds for new forms of cognitive warfare. Meanwhile in the 21st century there are increasingly dark ruminations over how mood stabilizers, sedatives and hypnotics might be used to attack and disrupt civilian populations, thereby transforming the brain into a form of biochemical weapon. One thing remains certain, however: from Freud's early studies in hysteria through William Sargant's controversial writings on influence and belief to Tim Leary's utopian 'Politics of Ecstasy', the brain has remained a concealed chamber in which angels and demons continue to slumber.

Ken Hollings and Quentin Cooper explore these issues, with the aid of a mystery object.

Facilitator: Quentin Cooper, broadcaster and presenter of Radio 4's 'Material World'.

Speaker:
Ken Hollings, writer, broadcaster and lecturer

Ken Hollings is a writer based in London. He is the author of the books Destroy All Monsters (Marion Boyars) and Welcome to Mars (Strange Attractor Press); and his work has appeared in a wide range of journals, reviews and anthologies. He has written and presented critically acclaimed programmes for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, NPS in Holland, ABC Australia and Resonance FM and has given talks and lectures at the Royal Institution, the British Library, the ICA, Central St Martins, the École de Recherche Graphique in Brussels and the Berlin Akademie der Künste. His latest book The Bright Labyrinth:

Sex, Death and Design in the Digital Regime is due from Strange Attractor Press in late 2012. For more information, please go to http://www.kenhollings.blogspot.com/.

This event is FREE. 

This event is fully booked. Spaces may become available on the day of the event. You can register for the waiting list 90 minutes before the start of the event in Wellcome Collection.