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CIA Interrogations Caused Brain Damage: Scientist

Harsh techniques damaged subject's facility for recall

By the Associated Press

Posted Sep 21, 2009 3:26 PM CDT
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(AP) – The CIA's harsh interrogations are likely to have damaged the brains of terrorist suspects, diminishing their ability to recall and provide the detailed information the spy agency sought, according to a new scientific paper. The paper scrutinizes the techniques used by the CIA under the Bush administration through the lens of neurobiology and determines the methods to be counterproductive, no matter how much the suspects might have eventually talked.


Shane O'Mara, a professor at Ireland's Trinity College, wrote that the interrogation techniques appear based on "folk psychology"—a layman's idea of how the brain works. Prolonged sleep deprivation, being chained in painful positions, exploitation of  phobias, and waterboarding cause the brain to release stress hormones that, if their release is repeated and prolonged, may result in compromised brain function and even tissue loss, O'Mara wrote.

Mike Morice, center, and other members of World Can't Wait group perform a live waterboarding demonstration outside the Spanish Consulate in Manhattan, Thursday, April 23, 2009 in New York.
Mike Morice, center, and other members of World Can't Wait group perform a live waterboarding demonstration outside the Spanish Consulate in Manhattan, Thursday, April 23, 2009 in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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Solid scientific evidence on how repeated and extreme stress and pain affect memory suggests these techniques are unlikely to do anything other than the opposite of that intended by enhanced interrogation. - Shane O'Mara, Neuroscientist

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 19 comments
BlahBlahBlah
Sep 22, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
If sarcasm was indeed the intent my apologies. If not, see above.
jagerhans
Sep 22, 2009 9:15 AM CDT
three centuries after Beccaria's writings on torture we are once more stuck at the starting point. Anyone still believing the myth of progress ?
lindamae
Sep 22, 2009 5:59 AM CDT
Review the torture techniques of the former leader of Iraq. There is now a museum devoted to shedding light on what Iraqis went through. (google ifor an article) They didn't worry about brain damage - it becomes immaterial after you have lost your fingers, toes, sometimes nose and or ears, your genitals, some parts of your skin, some broken ribs, legs, backs, eyes, or you watched your wife, daughters beaten and raped in front of you - screaming in terror and pain. Sorry - but when we have "tortured", the enemy has come out alive - not true with those in other countries. The latest is in Iran - the young kids who demonstrated were beaten, and then thrown into one of 9 major prisons to be raped and molested by the general population. And then dumped into a trunk of a car and driven to the desert to be dropped off and burned. The press in other countries than ours reports what is happening to these brave kids. Our networks - and our president - ignores their pain. Plus - it is NOT true that interrogations brought no valid info that made us safer. To the contrary - several plots were discovered. Also, I do not want to jeopardize our national security by knowing everything that happens during interrogations. There are some things which need to be private and secure. Wasn't it said that loose lips sink ships during WWII? This is NOT a spectator sport with announcers commenting on every play.

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CIA • memory • brain • brain damage • neuroscience • sleep deprivation • waterboarding • enhanced interrogation techniques

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