As I noted last week, commercial applications of brain imaging open up whole new vistas of manipulation via visual cortex…

Using M.R.I.’s to See Politics on the Brain:

“This research can show how a candidate is unfairly targeting the weaknesses and foibles of voters, and that can be empowering,” said Professor Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Of course, political consultants could also use this technology to create more manipulative commercials, though Mr. Freedman and Mr. Knapp say they do not hope for partisan advantage from their research.

“We just want to start exploring this new frontier,” Mr. Knapp said….