Compassionate Thought

Your March 14 article on monkeys with brain implants used to control computers by the monkeys’ thought alone was interesting. I wonder if the brain researchers at Brown University have considered what should happen to these brave little monkeys in this new world of medical marvels they’re bringing about after their “service” to science is done.

Do they get any reward, a retirement free of repeated medical experiments on their brains? Or are they “sacrificed” at the end of their service? Or made to submit again and again to experiments until they’re used up? I hope one day the monkeys, since they can think, learn how to use those computers to persuade us that this new world of medical miracles can’t help us if we’ve lost all compassion.

Karen Pedersen

Los Angeles