Neuroethics & Law Blog

Our 5th Blogiversary!

I'm pleased to report that the Neuroethics & Law Blog is five-years-old today.  It's hard to believe that five years have gone by.  During that time, "neuroethics" has become, if not a household name, at least something approaching it. 

In legal academia, the field has become increasingly important and is growing more and more mainstream.  When I first taught "Law and the Brain," in 2006, it was quite possibly the first of its kind (let me know if I'm wrong): a law school class devoted to the impact of advances in neuroscience on law and society.  Now, I hear periodically about such courses popping up across the country.  I expect the next five years to be even more exciting!

As a reminder, if you'd like a shortcut to reach the blog, you can go to neuroethicsblog.com.

Experimental Philosophy Takes on the Experience Machine

Way back when, I argued that Robert Nozick's famous "experience machine" hypothetical has a serious flaw.  Quite possibly, the intuitions that are supposed to be elicited by his hypothetical (namely, that we prefer to live in the "real" world even if it is experientially worse than a virtual world) may actually show something weaker (namely, that we have a status quo preference for the world in which happen to live).  

The final version of Felipe de Brigard's paper, "If you like it, does it matter if it's real?" has now been published here (behind a pay wall, I'm afraid).  Felipe's work offers empirical support for my analysis of the experience machine, and I thank Felipe for his reference to my article in the published version of his piece.

Here's a sample from Felipe's abstract: "I report some experimental evidence suggesting that the intuition elicited by the thought-experiment may be explainable by the fact that people are averse to abandon the life they have been experiencing so far, regardless of whether such life is virtual or real. I use then an explanatory model, derived from what behavioral economists and psychologists call the status quo bias, to make sense of these results."

The  link to my article (no pay wall) is here.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup from JHU Guest Blogger

Last Edition's Most Popular Article Preparing the ethical future of deep brain stimulation  Surgical Neurology 2010:72(6):577-586   In the Academic Literature: Neurobiology: The science of silence  Nature 2010 463:853 Nonoverlapping Sets of Synapses Drive On Responses and Off Responses in Auditory Cortex Neuron 2010:65(3):412-421 Relationship between neuropsychological outcome and DBS surgical trajectory and electrode location  Journal of the Neurological Sciences 2010:287(1-2);159-171 The volatility of the amygdala response to masked fearful eyes  Human Brain Mapping February 16 2010  Intellectual abilities and white matter microstructure in development: A diffusion tensor imaging study  Human Brain Mapping February 16 2010  Interest in politics modulates neural activity in the amygdala and ventral striatum  Human Brain Mapping February 16 2010 In the Popular Press: Hopes grow over potential autism treatment  Nature News February 16 2010   Stem Cell Experiment Reverses Aging In Rare Disease  The New York Times February 17 2010 Brain-Controlled Cursor Doubles as a Neural Workout  Science Daily February 16 2010 Our Politics May Be All in Our Head  The New York Times February 13 2010 Bonobos and the Child-Like Joy of Sharing  The Primate Diaries February 16 2010 Book-Writing Man In Coma Fails Communication Test  NPR February 17 2010 The truth behind elephant brainpower  BBC News February 17 2010

The Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences (PEBS) is a collaborative effort of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the  Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute . The goal of PEBS is to ensure that research in brain science proceeds with an informed understanding of ethical issues, and that philosophical and empirical analyses of the advances in brain research proceed with an informed understanding of the science. With the PEBS Neuroethics News Roundup, we will present a weekly survey of the most pertinent and thought-provoking new articles from both peer-reviewed academic journals and the popular press. Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics | 201 North Charles, Suite 1701  Baltimore, MD 21201 | Office: 410-625-7871  Contact Us: [email protected], [email protected]   Archived editions of PEBS Neuroethics News Round Up

Interrogations and False Confessions

Recently posted to SSRN:

"Psychological and Cultural Aspects of Interrogations and False Confessions: Using Research to Inform Legal Decision-Making" 

PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERTISE IN COURT: PSYCHOLOGY IN THE COURTROOM, Daniel A. Krauss, Joes D. Lieberman, eds., Ashgate, 2009

RICHARD A. LEO, University of San Francisco - School of Law
MARK COSTANZO, Claremont Colleges - Claremont McKenna College, Claremont Colleges - Claremont McKenna College
NETTA SHAKED-SCHROER, Claremont Colleges - Claremont Graduate University
False confessions are a major cause of wrongful convictions. In many countries, physical abuse and torture are still used to extract confessions from criminal suspects. Cultural orientations such as collectivism and power distance may influence the tendency to confess, and a suspect's past experience in a country that uses physical abuse during interrogations may render suspects fearful and more prone to falsely confess. After looking at interrogations outside the United States, we examine the issue of why false confessions sometime occur in the U.S. legal system. We prove an overview of the stages of a typical interrogation and provide a psychological analysis of the array of tactics used by police interrogators. Finally, we describe several reforms that hold the potential to dramatically reduce the risk of false confessions.

"Notions of Fairness and Contingent Fees"

Recently posted to SSRN:

"Notions of Fairness and Contingent Fees" 

EYAL ZAMIR, Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law
ILANA RITOV, Hebrew University of Jerusalem - School of Education
Absract: Notions of fairness play an important role in assessing the validity of transactions. Fairness judgments may refer to various aspects of the transaction; yet their primary object is the adequacy of remuneration: Does each party receives fair value in return for what she gives. One type of transaction whose fairness is constantly and extensively debated is plaintiffs’ hiring of attorneys on a contingent fee (CF) basis, where the fee is calculated as a certain percentage of the recovery.

The four factors determining the effective hourly rate resulting from a CF arrangement are the claimed sum, the probability of recovery, the CF rate, and the number of hours the attorney works on the case. According to our findings, very high CF rates are considered unfair even when they result in a low effective hourly rate. Within the wide range of values we consider, the effect of CF rate on the assessed fairness is considerably greater than the effect of any other variable. At the same time, we found no direct correlation between people’s perceived fairness of CF arrangements and their preferences when facing a choice between CF and other fee arrangements. We thus conjecture that the primary mechanisms through which the prevailing perceptions affect the market have to do with the behavior of attorneys who care about their reputation, and regulators who set caps for CF rates. The resulting “fairness constraint” drives very high CF rates out of the market even in cases where the parties would have found them mutually beneficial.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup from JHU Guest Blogger

In the Academic Literature: Neural bases for addictive properties of benzodiazepines  Nature 2010:463:769-774 The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self-Transcendence  Neuron 2010:65(3):309-319 Parental Love Pills: Some Ethical Considerations  Bioethics March 2010 Respect for Autonomy, Advance Directive, and Minimally Conscious State Bioethics March 2010 Forebrain overexpression of CK1δ leads to down-regulation of dopamine receptors and altered locomotor activity reminiscent of ADHD  PNAS February 9 2010 Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion  PNAS February 8 2010 The Lucretian swerve: The biological basis of human behavior and the criminal justice system  PNAS February 8 2010 Functional MRI reveals expert-novice differences during sport-related anticipation  Neuro Report 2010:21(2):94-98  Dopamine Type 2/3 Receptor Availability in the Striatum and Social Status in Human Volunteers  Biological Psychiatry 2010:67(3):275-278  Acupuncture needling sensation: The neural correlates of deqi using fMRI  Brain Research 2010:1315:111-118  Apotemnophilia: ethical considerations of amputating a healthy limb Journal of Medical Ethics 2010: 36(2):75

 

In the Popular Press:  Brain surgery boosts spirituality  Nature News February 10 2010 Morals don't come from God  Nature News February 8 2010 A Neuroscientist Studying the Structure of Dog Brains  The New York Times February 8 2010 The Riddle of Consciousness  The New York Times February 5 2010 FMRI, Consciousness, and Vegetative States  Stanford Law and the Biosciences Blog February 6 2010  Can battlefield robots take the place of soldiers?  BBC News February 8 2010 Morality Research Sheds Light on the Origins of Religion  Science Daily February 9 2010    Neurons for peace: Take the pledge, brain scientists  New Scientist February 8 2010

The Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences (PEBS) is a collaborative effort of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the  Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute . The goal of PEBS is to ensure that research in brain science proceeds with an informed understanding of ethical issues, and that philosophical and empirical analyses of the advances in brain research proceed with an informed understanding of the science.

The Sociology of Neuroscience: A Call for Papers

The abstract deadline is soon.  Details here.

"Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics"

I was recently sent a copy of Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics.  This essay collection was published last month by MIT Press and is likely to interest our readers who follow policy issues related to emerging technologies.  From the jacket cover:

Bioethics has become increasingly politicized over the past decade. Conservative voices dominated the debate at first, but the recent resurgence of progressivism and the application of its fundamental values (social justice, critical optimism, practical problem solving) to bioethical issues have helped correct this ideological imbalance. Progress in Bioethics is the first book to debate the meaning of progressive bioethics and to offer perspectives on the topic both from bioethicists who consider themselves progressive and from bioethicists who do not. It aims to begin a dialogue and to provide a foothold for readers interested in understanding the field.

The chapter authors--leading scholars in the field--discuss the meaning of progressive bioethics, the rise of conservative bioethics, the progressive stance toward biotechnology, the interplay of progressive bioethics and religion, and progressive approaches to such specific policy issues as bioethics commissions, stem cell research, and health-care reform.

The arrival of a new administration in 2009—one that is open to progressive ideas and rejects ideological interventions in science—makes this book and its new approach to bioethics relevant and timely.

Contributors: Sam Berger, Daniel Callahan, Arthur L. Caplan, R. Alta Charo, Marcy Darnovsky, John H. Evans, Kathryn Hinsch, James Hughes, Richard Lempert, William F. May, Eric M. Meslin, Jonathan D. Moreno, Michael Rugnetta, Paul Root Wolpe, Laurie Zoloth

 

DSM-V Draft

In case you haven't already heard, the draft of the DSM-V has been released.  I found the coverage at MindHacks especially useful (and Vaughan has placed lots of links to news coverage at the bottom of his post).  Needless to say, this is big news!

Online Neuroethics Course at Penn and Wisconsin

Via Penn's Center for Neuroethics & Society:

We are pleased to inform you that the Center for Neuroscience & Society has launched the Neuroethics Learning Collaborative (NLC), the first eLearning for-credit graduate course in neuroethics.  The course, taught by CNS Director and Professor of Psychology, Dr. Martha Farah, covers the key ethical, legal and social implications of neuroscience.  It is a hybrid classroom-online learning program that links students across universities using video and social networking technology.  In spring 2010 we are partnering with the University of Wisconsin, and the following year we will open the course up to students at universities around the world.  The NLC is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. 

For more information, including how to involve your university in next years NLC course, visit:
http://neuroethics.upenn.edu/index.php/student-programs/neuroscience-learning-collaborative

Summer Institute in Cultural Neuroscience

I received the announcement below via Darren Schreiber.  For more information, click here:

July 19-30, 2010

Center for Culture, Mind, and the Brain
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Co-Directors:
Shinobu Kitayama
Carolyn Yoon

Application Deadline:  March 1, 2010

We invite you to apply to attend the first Summer Institute in Cultural Neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. SICN is an annual two-week program that provides graduate students as well as faculty with an overview of core topics and recent research developments related to cultural neuroscience in order to prepare them to start their own empirical investigations. Attendees will have an opportunity to develop their own research ideas in cultural neuroscience through interactions with peers and faculty members.

SICN lectures on culture, brain, or both will be delivered by world-renowned scholars. Each scholar will discuss his or her work and place it in a broader scholarly context. Lectures will be followed by small group discussions.

The topics to be covered include:

Cultural psychology
Culture, self, and brain
Culture, cognition, and brain
Neuroeconomics and culture
Decision Neuroscience and culture
Co-evolution of culture and genes
Stereotyping, racial bias, and brain processes
New approaches to culture and personality

Faculty lecturers include:

Joan Chiao, Northwestern University
William Cunningham, Ohio State University
Richard Gonzalez, University of Michigan
Shihui Han, Peking University
Shinobu Kitayama, University of Michigan
Brian Knutson, Stanford University
Israel Liberzon, University of Michigan
Hazel Markus, Stanford University
Randolph Nesse, University of Michigan
Richard Nisbett, University of Michigan
Daphna Oyserman, University of Michigan
Denise Park, University of Texas at Dallas
Jeanne Tsai, Stanford University
Carolyn Yoon, University of Michigan

Complete applications are due by midnight on March 1.  You will be notified of the status of your application by March 31, and will have until April 30 for early registration, and June 15 for regular registration.

Participation fees are $1,200 for graduate students or post-docs, and $1,900 for faculty.  Discounted rates for early registration (by April 30) are $1,000 for graduate students or post-docs, and $1,700 for faculty.

Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs. We do not offer any scholarships or financial assistance.

For application forms and information, go to http://culturalneuroscience.isr.umich.edu/home.htm
or contact:

Natalie Dushane

Center for Culture, Mind, and the Brain
University of Michigan
426 Thompson Street, 5241 ISR
Ann Arbor, MI  48106-1248
(734) 764-4112

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup from JHU Guest Blogger

Last Edition's Most Popular Article Ethical neuroscience  Nature Neuroscience 2010:13:141 In the Academic Literature: Willful Modulation of Brain Activity in Disorders of Consciousness  New England Journal of Medicine February 3 2010  Effects of acute psychosocial stress on working memory related brain activity in men  Human Brain Mapping February 2 2010    Event-related potential and functional MRI measures of face-selectivity are highly correlated: A simultaneous ERP-fMRI investigation  Human Brain Mapping February 2 2010   Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry  Human Brain Mapping February 2 2010    Preparing the ethical future of deep brain stimulation  Surgical Neurology 2010:72(6):577-586    External trial deep brain stimulation device for the application of desynchronizing stimulation techniques  Journal of Neural Engineering 2009:6    Successful Treatment of Chronic Resistant Alcoholism by Deep Brain Stimulation of Nucleus Accumbens: First Experience with Three Cases  Pharmacopsychiatry 2009:42(6):288-291  In the Popular Press:  Coma patients communicates with power of the mind The Sun February 4 2010 Brain scan allows unconscious patient to communicate Nature News February 3 2010   Burrowing US prairie dogs use complex language BBC News February 2 2010 Abstract Thoughts? The Body Takes Them Literally The New York Times February 1 2010 Is the brain half full - or half empty? Practical Ethics February 4 2010 Learning from the Brain: Computer Scientists Develop New Generation of Neuro-Computer Science Daily February 1 2010

The Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences (PEBS) is a collaborative effort of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the  Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute . The goal of PEBS is to ensure that research in brain science proceeds with an informed understanding of ethical issues, and that philosophical and empirical analyses of the advances in brain research proceed with an informed understanding of the science.

Letter to the Editor on Fractional Parenthood

Law professor Melanie Jacobs (Michigan State University) comments on Adam Cohen's editorial on fractional (biological) parenthood.  In her letter to the editor, Jacobs mentions a 2007 case in Pennsylvania where the "court ruled that a child could . . . have three legal parents."

Big News in Scanning PVS and Minimal Consciousness

Story here.

Comments on Westlaw/Lexis Facelifts

In an earlier post, I talked about promised user-interface upgrades from Westlaw and Lexis.  Marc Blitz adds his thoughts in a comment and an anonymous commenter (an employee of Westlaw or Lexis?) suggests that we're going to be pleasantly surprised.  I hope so!