Ethical Challenges in Neuroscience

I think this is the biggest challenge of this century. Brain Posts has an excellent lecture notes from Dr. Nuala Kenny presentation - “Brain, Mind and the Moral: Challenges of Neuroethics”(Dana Foundation):

"Therapeutic interventions

• Screening has developed that allows the diagnosis of clinical neuroscience disorders where no treatment is available—how do we wisely use this technology?
• fMRI may be able to identify children and adolescents  at high-risk for developing conditions such as schizophrenia—how should this information be used and discloses
• Treatments such as deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease can dramatically reduce the motor symptoms of the condition, but may result in more disinhibited behavior and reduced decision-making ability.  How do we assess risk-benefit ratios in these types of interventions

Social policy

• Advance imaging techniques provide a wealth of information about the brain and brain function.  Imaging is commonly combined with genetic information for more powerful experiments.  Imaging technology is now available to combine two types of imaging at once (see combined MRI/PET image above). What are the key neuroethical issues involved in these more powerful imaging technologies?
• Cognitive enhancement drug research is underway the can improve concentration, memory and alertness in normal individuals.  What should be the limitations in the use of these drugs—are we devaluing normal human imperfections that define use?

Public education

• Science education is hard and neuroethics education equally hard—How do we best inform the general public on these issues?
• The media have significant power in shaping what the public knows in developing brain science and the ethical implications.  The media loves neuroscience and brain research breakthrough.  Does the media have an interest in a thoughtful discussion of the neuroethics involved in this research?

Implications of neuroscience in self, agency and moral responsibility

• Neuroscience stimulates thoughtful re-analysis of key ethical issues such as the self, agency (authenticity) and moral responsibility.  There is a strong element of neuroreductionism in some neuroscience research, i.e. “ I am what my neurons and synapses are doing”.  We need to be careful about this approach and the tendency for mind-brain dualistic thinking
• Neuroscience is focusing on how the brain makes ethical and moral decisions.  This reversal challenges ethicists to stay up-to-date on functional MRI and other brain imaging research advances in decision making, variability in processing ethical information, lying and cognitive control in psychopathological behavior."