Are you thinking what I’m thinking? The rise of mind control

Mind control still sounds like the stuff of sci-fi movies. But it's coming closer, with implants that can help people with paralysis and, further off, devices to send thoughts between humans

Ahundred electrodes are pressed tightly against my scalp and a mixture of salt water and baby shampoo is dripping down my back. The goings-on in my slightly agitated brain are represented by a baffling array of graphs on a screen in front of me. When I close my eyes and relax, the messy spikes and troughs become neat little waves.

Next, scientists here at Newcastle University's Institute of Neuroscience induce small electric currents in different parts of my head, using a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). If they fire the device a few millimetres to the left of my brain's motor cortex, I feel nothing. Hit my "sweet spot", however, and my arm moves of its own accord.