Neuroethics & Law Blog

Some Evidence Against An "Autism Epidemic"

Some good news for the end of the year: The Neuroskeptic discusses some recent new evidence that casts at least some doubt on the view that we have had an "autism epidemic" over the last few decades. 

The Newtown Shootings and Behavioral Genetics

See here.

California and Sexual Orientation "Therapy"

Hank Greely has an interesting blog post about California efforts to prohibit licensed health practitioners from providing "sexual orientation change efforts" and draws a connection to neuroethics issues. Here's the first paragraph:

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just granted a temporary injunction pending appeal in the case of Pickup v. Brown,* a challenge to the constitutionality of a new California statute barring licensed health practitioners from providing the treatments defined as “sexual orientation change efforts” to minors.  This is a quite interesting case, for lots of reasons – First Amendment speech rights of health care providers, the varying roles of parents, states, and minors over how children are raised, statutory regulation of medical practices, sexual orientation and the Constitution, and others.  But one of the others that may get overlooked is that the case may be a bit of an imperfect test drive for arguments about “cognitive liberty.”

Enhanced Directional Abilities

See here and here.

Katz on Legal Prediction

Recently posted to SSRN:

"Quantitative Legal Prediction – or – How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Preparing for the Data Driven Future of the Legal Services Industry"  
Emory Law Journal, Vol. 62, 2013

DANIEL MARTIN KATZ, Michigan State University - College of Law
Do I have a case? What is our likely exposure? How much is this going to cost? What will happen if we leave this particular provision out of this contract? How can we best staff this particular legal matter? These are core questions asked by sophisticated clients such as general counsels as well as consumers at the retail level. Whether generated by a mental model or a sophisticated algorithm, prediction is a core component of the guidance that lawyers offer. Indeed, it is by generating informed answers to these types of questions that many lawyers earn their respective wage. 

Every single day lawyers and law firms are providing predictions to their clients regarding their prospects in litigation and the cost associated with its pursuit (defense). How are these predictions being generated? Precisely what data or model is being leveraged? Could a subset of these predictions be improved by access to outcome data in a large number of 'similar' cases. Simply put, the answer is yes. Quantitative legal prediction already plays a significant role in certain practice areas and this role is likely increase as greater access to appropriate legal data becomes available. 

This article is dedicated to highlighting the coming age of Quantitative Legal Prediction with hopes that practicing lawyers, law students and law schools will take heed and prepare to survive (thrive) in this new ordering. Simply put, most lawyers, law schools and law students are going to have to do more to prepare for the data driven future of this industry. In other words, welcome to Law's Information Revolution and yeah - there is going to be math on the exam.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Last Edition's Most Popular Article: The Not So Seductive Allure of Colorful Brain Images, The Neurocritic In The Popular Press Studying Ethical Questions as the Brain’s Black Box Is Unlocked, New York Times   Not Just For Coffee Anymore: The Rise Of Caffeinated Foods, National Public Radio Artificial Intelligence by accident, The Guardian Adam Lanza: the medicalisation of evil, The Guardian Woman Gains Full Mind Control Of Robotic Arm, Just Like in Star Wars, Gizmodo The Neural Basis for Dehumanizing The Homeless, Sociological Images The Power of Concentration, New York Times   The Tricky Business of Defining Mental Disorders, Science Progress Tool-Using Orangutans Learn Like Humans, Wired Head-Mounted Cameras Could Help Robots Understand Social Interactions, Science Daily How Communities Shape Our Morals, Scientific American Building a Better Truth Machine, Slate Psychiatry, Disease Definitions, and the War on Drugs, Stanford Law and the Biosciences Blog Want to Be Happier and Avoid Auto Accidents? A TED/BMJ Mashup, The Neurocritic Should Physicians Prescribe Cognitive Enhancers to Healthy Individuals?, Science Daily Ketamine: Magic Antidepressant Or Illusion? Revisited, Neuroskeptic When Anxiety Interrupts a Child’s Life, New York Times Well Blog Oxytocin May Forge Bonds Between Dads and Children, Time Healthland Will We Have Cognitive Computers That Feel And Smell in The Next Five Years?, Gizmodo Alzheimer’s test may undermine drug trials, Nature Will we ever… have cyborg brains?, BBC  From the Academic Literature: Epigenetic inheritance of a cocaine-resistance phenotype, Nature Neuroscience Early Executive Function Predicts Reasoning Development, Psychological Science How to Pass the False-Belief Task Before Your Fourth Birthday, Psychological Science A Prefrontal Cortex-Brainstem Neuronal Projection That Controls Response to Behavioral Challenge, Nature High-performance neuroprosthetic control by an individual with tetraplegia, The Lancet ER stress in the brain subfornical organ mediates angiotensin-dependent hypertension, Journal of Clinical Investigation Fractionating Human Intelligence, Neuron

Subscribe to our mailing list 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.

Child Protection and Developmental Neuroscience

Recently posted to SSRN (and published at 63 Hastings Law Journal 1487 (2012)):

"Developmental Neuroscience, Children's Relationships with Primary Caregivers, and Child Protection Policy Reform" 

LOIS A. WEITHORN, University of California - Hastings College of Law

Empirical research has confirmed that the harms of child maltreatment can affect almost every area of an individual’s functioning and can reverberate across relationships, generations, and communities. Most recently, investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have called for policymakers to prioritize prevention and amelioration of child maltreatment in a manner consistent with its approach to other major public health problems.

This Article — an outgrowth of a panel on Relationships with Caregivers and Children’s Neurobiological Development, which took place at a recent symposium, Law and Policy of the Developing Brain, co-sponsored by the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law and Stanford Law School — addresses some of the potential policy applications of research on the neurobiology of attachment, maltreatment, and trauma, with particular attention to the government’s articulated mission of safeguarding children’s welfare.

Part I of this Article address the state’s relationship with children and families, and the law’s recognition of the centrality of children’s primary caregivers — typically their parents — to children’s well-being. Part II critiques certain aspects of our legal system’s predominant response to child maltreatment. Part III reviews recent research on the effects of child maltreatment, with special attention to developmental neurobiological findings. Part IV addresses some implications of these findings for child protection policy and sets forth recommendations that are consistent with the empirical research and responsive to the critiques set forth in Part II.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Last Edition's Most Popular Article: Enhancing Morality (John Harris and Julian Savulescu - video), iai In The Popular Press How Free Is Free Will?, Johns Hopkins Magazine   Operation Delirium, The New Yorker Understanding How Children Develop Empathy, New York Times Well Blog Psychiatry’s New Rules Threaten to Turn Grieving Into a Sickness, Wired Science Eye-Opener: Why Do Pupils Dilate in Response to Emotional States?, Scientific American The Not So Seductive Allure of Colorful Brain Images, The Neurocritic Alzheimer's Breakthrough? Drug Intended for Diabetes Appears to Restore Memory in Alzheimer’s Brain Cells, Science Daily A Tense Compromise on Defining Disorders, New York Times Health   You scratch, I scratch! The social contagion of itch, Scientific American The war on drugs and alcohol is a war against human nature, The Guardian Neurodiversity and autism: where do we draw the line?, The Neuroethics Blog Pacemaker-like device studied in Alzheimer's treatment, CBS News Q&A: Oliver Sacks on Hallucinations, Time Health & Family Why You Like to Watch the Same Thing Over and Over and Over Again, Scientific American Target faulty brain circuits to treat mental illness, New Scientist    From the Academic Literature: Confidence in value-based choice, Nature Neuroscience Can decision-making skills affect responses to psychological stress in healthy women?, Psychoneuroendocrinology  The effect of verbal context on olfactory neural responses, Human Brain Mapping Functional neuroimaging of circardian fatigue, International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology Levels of Soluble Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 and P-Selectin Are Decreased in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Biological Psychiatry Individual Differences in Amygdala-Medial Prefrontal Anatomy Link Negative Affect, Impaired Social Functioning, and Polygenic Depression Risk, The Journal of Neuroscience

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.

Torry and Weiss on Medication Noncompliance and Criminal Responsibility

Recent posted to SSRN:

"Medication Noncompliance and Criminal Responsibility: Is the Insanity Defense Legitimate?"  
Journal of Psychiatry & Law, Vol 40, Summer 2012

ZACHARY TORRY, Independent
KENNETH J. WEISS, University of Pennsylvania
Noncompliance with medication therapy and mental health care is prevalent among the mentally ill. Its multifactorial dynamics can include aspects of the illness itself, such as anosognosia. Noncompliance with medication can increase risk of violent or other criminal behavior, but the law currently does not recognize it as a factor in determining culpability. The legal test of insanity that focuses on a “defect of reason from disease of the mind” presumes that the disease was not self-induced. Noncompliance with medication and voluntary intoxication can both be seen as self-induced incapacities, but their adjudication is often quite different. A psychotic condition may be the basis of an excuse, whereas simple intoxication is not. The distinction is not only the obvious one of acts of omission (medication noncompliance) and acts of commission (voluntary intoxication). There are other complicating factors, such as the knowledge of the effects of noncompliance, the mental state prior to the noncompliance, and the presence of any conditions that would excuse or justify it. These and other considerations render the assignment of criminal responsibility for the noncompliant psychiatric offender complex. A possible solution to this would be the application of therapeutic jurisprudence to the noncompliant mentally ill offender.

Law and Neuroscience Winter School at the U. of Pavia

After the jump, you'll see a call for applications to the University of Pavia's Law and Neuroscience Winter School.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Last Edition's Most Popular Article: Neuroscience: Under Attack, New York Times Sunday Review The Opinion Pages In The Popular Press New Love: A Short Shelf Life, New York Times Sunday Review Scams: Brain study suggests why older people are more vulnerable, Sun Sentinel Lithium experiment in 'Down syndrome' mice casts light on human trials, Nature Spoonful of Medicine Blog Exploring Humanity’s Evolving ‘Global Brain’, New York Times Opinion Pages Neuroscience Fiction, The New Yorker Does Neuroscience need a Newton, Scientific American The Future of Intelligence Testing, The Neuroethics Blog Gender Pay Gap Is Unacceptable, Monkeys Demonstrate, Huffington Post Women DSM 5 Is Guide Not Bible—Ignore Its Ten Worst Changes, Psychology Today Enhancing Morality (video), iai Listen Up, Doc: Empathy Raises Patients' Pain Tolerance, Science Daily Self-Awareness with a Simple Brain, Scientific American How Girls Evolved to Shop, Science Blogs Learn Music While You Sleep, Scientific American Personality disorder revamp ends in 'horrible waste', New Scientist Neurodiversity and autism: where do we draw the line?, The Neuroethics Blog From the Academic Literature: Reducing HDAC6 ameliorates cognitive deficits in a mouse model for Alzheimer's disease, EMBO Molecular Medicine Neural and behavioral bases of age differences in perceptions of trust, PNAS Eye Movements to Natural Images as a Function of Sex and Personality, PLoS One Fitness benefits of coalitionary aggression in male chimpanzees, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology  Patient-centered interviewing is associated with decreased responses to painful stimuli: An initial fMRI study, Patient Education and Counseling Neural substrates of normal and impaired preattentive sensory discrimination in large cohorts of nonpsychiatric subjects and schizophrenia patients as indexed by MMN and P3a change detection responses, NeuroImage Pain inhibition by blocking leukocytic and neuronal opioid peptidases in peripheral inflamed tissue, The FASEB Journal Lithium rescues synaptic plasticity and memory in Down syndrome mice, Journal of Clinical Investigation The Faintest Speck of Dirt, Disgust Enhances the Detection of Impurity, Psychological Science

Subscribe to our mailing list 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.

Savulescu and Harris on Enhancing Morality

Julian Savulescu and John Harris discuss the enhancement of morality here. It's from the Institute of Art and Ideas in Britain.

"Science and the Person: A Complacent Reflection"

Recently Posted to SSRN:

"Science and the Person: A Complacent Reflection" 
San Diego Legal Studies Paper No. 12-100
STEVEN DOUGLAS SMITH, University of San Diego School of Law
This short essay, written to be presented at a conference at William and Mary on “Law and Human Agency,” argues that developments in neuroscience, however impressive and valuable, do not negate or seriously threaten either the traditional philosophical debates about the “mind-body problem,” free will, or personal identity or the “everyday view of the person” that is assumed in law.