Thought Control - but by whom, or what?

IBy harnessing quantum dots--tiny light-emitting semiconductor particles a few billionths of a meter across--researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain.
Download the full PDF Here You don't have to read the whole thing (though it's well worth it if you do. But to give you a taster, and where the research might lead, the introduction begins

"Electrical signals in the brain govern the complexity of the human body and mind. Being able to switch and control these signals externally represents an important tool to answer questions about sensory, motor and behavioral events, which fundamentally control our health."


Nanowerk news (08-02-2012)  reports that the University of Washington  electrical engineer Lih Y. Lin and biophysicist Fred Rieke said the experiments show that "it is possible to excite neurons and other cells and control their activities remotely using light. This non-invasive method can provide flexibility in probing and controlling cells at different locations while minimizing undesirable effects."
"Many brain disorders are caused by imbalanced neural activity," Rieke adds, and so "techniques that allow manipulation of the activity of specific types of neurons could permit restoration of normal--balanced--activity levels"--including the restoration of function in retinas that have been compromised by various diseases. "The technique we describe provides an alternative tool for exciting neurons in a spatially and temporally controllable manner. This could aid both in understanding the normal activity patterns in neural circuits, by introducing perturbations and monitoring their effect, and how such manipulations could restore normal circuit activity."