The Neuroscience of Spying

By Jonathan M. Gitlin

Intelligence gathering is neither straightforward nor foolproof. The intelligence community's abject failure when it came to the matter of Iraq and WMDs illustrates that point rather effectively, as does the failure to anticipate the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as well as the USSR's wild goose chase over Able Archer 83.

When we think of the application of science to the intelligence gathering world, it's usually something like spy satellites or listening devices, but the US intelligence community needs to pay more heed to the world of the neurosciences, according to a new report from the National Research Council.

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