I received a fascinating insight from a reader who had a special interest in the “Free Will” chapter of 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense. In that chapter I talk about the surgeon Itzhak Fried who discovered he could give people the “urge” to perform an action just by stimulating certain areas of the brain with electricity. This reader reports similar urges as a result of Tourettes - or something.
I’ll keep the action anonymous, but the back-story is that “Ralph” has had Tourettes since the age of 7. He was only given medication when aged 32. He has to concentrate incredibly hard if he wants to fend off the verbal tics, and can only manage it for about 5 minutes at a time. But here’s the real grind: he also has murderous thoughts if not medicated:
“I would sit drinking tea with my mum and be constantly having the urge to kill her, in fact every person I met I had the urge to attack, not just the thought but the urge - suppressing these urges was/is a constant strain. However, I can suppress them (maybe because the voice suggesting I attack others is my own and does not seem external to me as maybe some voices heard by schizophrenics do). But I can suppress them. Of course it could be said that my urges are not as strong as some which is why I don't act on them (and never have), however, perhaps it is the complexity of an urge which makes a difference, and complex urges we can control which does suggest a level of free will.”
It doesn’t seem a stretch to me that there are electrical misfirings that cause such urges, just as Fried was able to create urges to move in his patients (they gave in to the urge if he increased the current). So is “Ralph” fighting against electrical currents in his brain, and if the currents were stronger, would he not be able to fight them?
This scenario creates a nightmare when this is translated into issues of legal responsibility. I can imagine “Ralph” could be sectioned under the mental health act if things got any worse and he was considered a danger to others. Yet judging by his email, he is entirely lucid and rational.
This is such a difficult area and we’re only scratching the surface. Neuroscience is a ticking timebomb. Are we ready for the blast?
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