debate-the ethics of neuroscience

• is ethical-understand consciousness


  philosophers have tried to determine what consciousness is.
• Crick and Koch


  they say that the claustrum,a thin sheet of neurons,is the seat of consciousness,it combines all info from different brain regions

  (is ethical-understand consciousness)
• Koubeissi et al


  put an electrode near a 54 year old womans claustrum and it was electrically stimulated.When stimulated the woman stared blankly and didnt respond to auditory or visual commands.Once stimulation stopped,she regained consciousness with no memory of the event.When repeated again the same thing happened.

  (is ethical-understand consciousness)
• Archie Battersbee


  He was found unconscious by his mother after tying a tiktok trend called 'blackout'.Paramedics who arrived found him with no pulse and doctors believed him to be brainstem dead.His other believed he was still able to grab her hand.The court decided that it was in his best interest to be allowed to die with dignity and have his ventilation removed and he passed away.This raises questions whether someone is brainstem dead or permanent vegetative state.

  (is ethical-understand consciousness)
• is not ethical-understand consciousness


  if neuroscientists can locate consciousness in the brain,it can have many implications.One issue is with people in a vegetative state,and whether life support should be withdrawn.If someone has lost consciousness,does that mean we have moral right to withdraw care.
• Richard Marsh


  'locked in syndrome'-when a person appears in a vegetative state but is conscious and fully aware of whats happening.

  he had a stroke and doctors believed it had left him in a vegetative state and asked his wife if they could turn off the machine.

  however he gave his family hand switches to signal he was still conscious and he walked out the hospital 4 months later 95% recovered

  (is not ethical-understand consciousness)
• is ethical-treat criminal behaviour

  role of the justice system is to try and rehabilitate offenders,one solution lies in neuroscience.

  criminal behaviour can stem from abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters,if so drugs could 'treat' criminals
• Cherek et al


  looked at impulsivity and aggression in males with conduct disorder.

  1/2 was given a placebo and 1/2 given PAROXETINE(SSRI).

  those received paroxetine showed decrease impulsivity and aggression declined.

  (is ethical-treat criminal behaviour)
• Alabama,USA


  approved a chemical castration law which made it a condition that sex offenders undergo chemical castration.

  those who abused children under the age of 13 will be injected with hormone-blocking drugs before leaving prison

  it has to be administered until a doctor deems it no longer necessary
• is not ethical-treat criminal behaviour

  although neuroscience links criminal behaviour to neurological imbalances,many see crime as a response to social context.

  its questioned whether its ethical to make it mandatory to include neurological interventions.
• Farah


  using neurological interventions,signals denial of freedom,something prisoners havent been denied in the past

  prisoner is left with little choice

  (is not ethical-treat criminal behaviour)
• Wong and Gravel


  meta-analysis,concluded that men found no evidence to suggest there is anything chemically wrong with sexual offenders.

  this could place mandatory unnecessary conditions on someone which could have an impact on their future private lives(lower libidos and sexual dysfunction)

  (is not ethical-treat criminal behaviour)
• is ethical-enhance neurological function


  can improve abilities of normal individuals(academic tasks)

  TDCS-Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation,passing a small electric current across regions of the brain
• Kadosh et al


  found that TDCS leads to improvement in problem solving,mathematical language,memory and attention capabilities.Students could use TDCS to enhance exam preparation.

  It can be argued that students already use neuroenhancement by drinking caffeine based drinks to block adenosine receptors in the brain and hence more alert.

  (is ethical-enhance neurological function)
• Clark et al


  TDCS enhance people in the same way that clothing or air travel is an enhancement to humans,if we didnt have enhancers then we wouldnt be as developed.

  Did a study on the use to TDCS in improving memory,he attatched electrodes to the right middle frontal gyrus and right parietal lobe.

  Found that those using TDCS while completing learning tasks were nearly 10% better than the control group.

  (is ethical-enhance neurological function)
• is not ethical-enhance neurological function

  TDCS is not available to all,not fair to let some people benefit from the treatment but not all.

  Should we consider the ban of neuro-enhancing technology in the same way we ban doping in sport
• Kadosh et al


  warn of ethical implications of TDCS technology.

  no training/licensing rules for practitioners

  poorly qualified clinicians administering ineffective treatments-can cause brain damage to paitents.

  (is not ethical-enhance neurological brain function)
• Davis


  From the uni of swansea,'extreme caution'

  highlighted many problems-long-term side effects,lack of dosing guidelines,research about how TDCS may affect children

  (is not ethical-enhance neurological function)
• is ethical-improve marketing techniques

  neuroscience could be applied in advertising/marketing

  when interviewed by market researchers we may not give honest opinions and give the answer we think the researcher wants to see(social desirability)

  using eye tracking equipment can help us see what really catches peoples eyes when watching adverts
• Lieberman 


  studied brain activity of people who watched public-service announcements about the importance of wearing sunscreen.

  they were then asked how likely they were to use it,they had access to it.

  researchers compared pps brain activity to their predictions.

  1/2 of the pps predicted their behaviour,researchers were correct 75% of the time.

  (is ethical-improve marketing techniques)
• IKEA customers


  Polish and Dutch customers,using high-res EEG headsets and eye trackers.

  researchers learnt about consumer reactions to green business strategies,which helped identify which business model customers were likely to accept,never accept or accept in a few years.

  IKEA now has a home solar offering that enables customers to generate their own renewable energy.

  enables businesses to model their business to suit their customers

  (is ethical-improve marketing techniques)
• is not ethical-improve marketing techniques

  accessing info about consumer preferences and behaviour is not new.

  we already use things like loyalty cards/online browsing and this has helped make product marketing more effective.
• Wilson et al


  believe that neuromarketing research will be able to individualise advertising messages to us and therefore big brands could manipulate the free will of their clients.

  (is not ethical-improve marketing technique)
• Montague


  coke/Pepsi blind taste testing,scanning pps brains at the same time.

  pps preferred pepsi if they didnt know what they were drinking but preferred coke if they did know.

  When pps were blind tasting one of the brains reward centres(the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) responded actively.However when pps were told they were drinking coke,there was more activity in the medial prefrontal cortex-part of the brain that deals with higher cognitive processing and memory.

  (is not ethical-improve marketing techniques)