Neuroethics Notes

Neuroethics studies ethical, legal, and social questions arising from scientific findings about the brain in medicine, law, and policy.
It covers issues from neurology, psychiatry, psychopharmacology, cognitive neuroscience, and neural engineering.
It addresses concerns from neuroimaging, brain implants, brain-computer interfaces, psychopharmacology, and understanding the neural bases of behavior and consciousness.

Examines right vs. wrong regarding treatment, enhancement, or manipulation of the human brain.
Considers the ethical implications of technologies like mind-reading machines and cognitive enhancement drugs.

New approaches for diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Revolutionary capabilities in medical imaging.
Advances in Biotechnology and genetic medicine.
Brain-computer interfacing and Neurorobotics
Significant strides in understanding basic brain and behavior relationships were made

The ability to alter brain function can treat mental dysfunction and enhance mental processes.
Neurotechnology's benefits and dangers require examination, including whether and how to limit its uses.

Neurosurgery and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) are treatment options for mental illnesses.
Psychopharmacological drugs are increasingly used for cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals.

Enhancement of neurocognitive function via pharmacology is common.
Examples include ADHD drugs (Ritalin, Adderall) as study aids and nutritional supplements for memory improvement.

Targets include memory, executive function, mood, emotion, appetite, libido, and sleep.

Ampakines: Modulate AMPA receptors to facilitate LTP.
Drugs that increase CREB: activate genes to produce proteins that maintain LTP duration.

Aims to erase undesirable memories, such as those causing PTSD.
Seeks to prevent consolidation of traumatic memories via pharmacological intervention.

After Marijuana, Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications account for Most of the Commonly Abused Drugs Among High School Seniors.
Examples: Marijuana/Hashish, Synthetic Marijuana, Vicodin, Adderall, Salvia, Tranquilizers, Cough Medicine, MDMA (Ecstasy)
About 1 in 9 youth or 11.4 percent of young people aged 12 to 25 used prescription drugs nonmedically within the past year.
25% of those who began abusing prescription drugs at age 13 or younger met clinical criteria for addiction sometime in their life.

The drug is intended to treat narcolepsy, but time-poor traders use it to stay awake and hyper-alert for long periods of work

Modafinil (Provigil) action is still unclear; Possibilities include:
blocking dopamine transporters leading to higher concentration of dopamine in the synaptic gap
indirect mediation of Acetylcholine and/or epinephrine activity.

Drugs targeting dopamine and norepinephrine improve deficient and normal executive function.
Benefits may be more pronounced in individuals with lower initial performance levels.

Safety concerns: Weighing long-term health consequences against immediate benefits.
Access: Unequal access to neurotechnological enhancements based on wealth.
Coercion: Forced enhancement on unwilling individuals, e.g., for competence to stand trial.
Identity: Alteration of character and authenticity.
Free will: Degradation of personal responsibility.

Legislators and the public will need to decide whether current regulatory frameworks are adequate for the regulation of neurotechnologies, or whether new laws must be written and new agencies commissioned.