Rear Admiral Tim Szymanski, the commander of all Navy special operations, revealed that cognitive enhancement was “really critical to the life of our operators”.
Speaking at a military conference near Washington DC, Szymnaski said that there were plenty of options to choose from, including drugs and brain training.
But he said advances in electrical stimulation, which work by shocking the brain into faster response times, had caught his eye.
“In experiments, people who were watching these screens…their ability to concentrate would fall off in about 20 minutes,” he continued.
“But they did studies whereby a little bit of electrical stimulation was applied, and they were able to maintain the same peak performance for twenty hours,” he told Military.com.
It follows revelations that the US government were conducting trials using a brain boosting headset to improve soldier’s learning skills and muscle responses.
The US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said it was testing a headset, which looks similar to Beats by Dre headphones, which is manufactured by a Californian company called HALO.
The headset sends electrical impulses to the person wearing it, and can be used in combination with brain training lessons.
Several Seals have been given the headsets already, Carter confirmed.
The soldiers of the future are set to become like superheros seen in Hollywood blockbusters thanks to incredible scientific advances.
The US military inked a multi-million contract to provide its troops with bionic exoskeletons that can boost leg power and harness kinetic energy which can charge batteries.
It’s also expected to trial an Iron Man-style robot suit called Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) in 2018.
Scientists at top university MIT are also working on a special form of liquid body armour to help protect their boys in battle.
Boffins have been able to transform the material from liquid to a solid in milliseconds once a magnetic field or electrical current is applied to it.
The suit will also have “nerves” to monitor core body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, hydration levels and body position.
Source: The Sun
