Neuroethics & Law Blog

Fellowship Opportunity: Stanford Law School's Center for Law and the Biosciences

Stanford Law School's Center for Law and the Biosciences is now accepting applications for the 2014-2015 Fellowship Program. Applications and research proposals should be submitted by November 1, 2013. Click here for more information.

Job Opening: Philosophy Professor at Georgia State University

Georgia State Univeristy is looking to hire a Full, Associate, or Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy for the new interdisciplinary Neuroethics Program. Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2013. Click here for more information on the opening.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Last Edition's Most Popular Article(s): Neuroscience: Commitment beats will, Nature News In The Popular Press Researchers take on crucial question: Are haters gonna hate?, The Washington Post Wonkblog Researcher controls colleague’s motions in 1st human brain-to-brain interface, University of Washington Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab, BBC News The Relationship Between Lead and Crime, Sociological Images Pills that improve morality: Julian Savulescu at TEDxBarcelona, YouTube The Poor's Poor Mental Power, Science Nursing Homes' Drug Use Falls, The Wall Street Journal Why Does Food Taste So Delicious?, Scientific American Does Media Violence Lead to the Real Thing?, New York Times Sunday Review Are the Brains of Introverts and Extroverts Actually Different?, Discover Magazine The Crux Blog How City Living Is Reshaping the Brains and Behavior of Urban Animals, Wired Science  Promising First Test to Detect Parkinson’s Disease, Time Healthland  Even Severed Octopus Arms Have Smart Moves, Scientific American Blogs Neuroscience: Dopamine ramps up, Nature Just Thinking about Science Triggers Moral Behavior, Scientific American Different forms of dementia may lead to similar changes in brain function, Wellcome Trust Mind-altering drug could offer life free of heroin, New Scientist  Schizophrenics used to see demons and spirits. Now they talk about actors and hidden cameras – and make a lot of sense, Aeon Report from the Society for Disability Studies: Bringing Ethics, Bioethics, and Disability Studies Together, The Neuroethics Blog Super-recogniser officers policing Europe’s biggest party, Mind Hacks Neuroscience: Dopamine ramps up, Nature News Just Thinking about Science Triggers Moral Behavior, Scientific American Different Placebos Can Have Different Effects, Scientific American Twitter reveals the happiest spots in New York, New Scientist  From the Academic Literature: Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function, Science Neuroscience thinks big (and collaboratively), Nature Reviews Neuroscience  Optogenetics takes more control, Nature Reviews Neuroscience  Food Restriction Increases Glutamate Receptor-Mediated Burst Firing of Dopamine Neurons, The Journal of Neuroscience  Delusions and the Role of Beliefs in Perceptual Inference, Journal of Neuroscience  DNA methylation regulates associative reward learning, Nature Neuroscience  Sight over sound in the judgment of music performance, PNAS Money and trust among strangers, PNAS   Real-Time Strategy Game Training: Emergence of a Cognitive Flexibility Trait, PLoS One Attitudes without objects: Evidence for a dispositional attitude, its measurement, and its consequences, Personality and Social Psychology Familiarity promotes the blurring of self and other in the neural representation of threat, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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.

Stafford on Judgments of Musical Ability

Tom Stafford helpfully addresses a recent study that claims that top classical musicians are better selected using silent video clips rather than audio-only clips.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Last Edition's Most Popular Article(s): Two-Faced Facebook: We Like It, but It Doesn’t Make Us Happy, Time Healthland  In The Popular Press An Effort to Expand Access to a Drug That Could Save Victims of Overdoses, New York Times Don’t panic but psychology isn’t always a science, Mind Hacks End of Life Gamma Waves: Altered State of Consciousness or Artifactual Brain Activity?, The Neurocritic Employers: Facebook Party Pics Don’t Always Reflect Employees’ Bad Judgment, Time Healthland Wealthy Selfies: How Being Rich Increases Narcissism, Time Healthland Siblings of Autistic Children at a Higher Risk for the Disorder; Can That Risk Be Lowered?, Time Healthland  Will A 'Suicide Panel' One Day Be Included Your Routine Blood Work?, Forbes Copper linked to Alzheimer's disease, BBC News Health Sight dominates sound in music competition judging, BBC News Health Illegal palm oil developments force monkeys to down tools, BBC Science  Anti-Wrinkle Cream Might Be the Key to Treating Parkinson's Disease, Gizmodo 7 Up Used to Include Prescription Mood Stabilizers, Gizmodo Food addiction: does it really exist?, The Guardian Do you have a favourite number?, The Guardian Nicotine exposure gives baby rats addictive personalities, Nature News Neuroscience: Commitment beats will, Nature News Study Finds No Link Between Hallucinogens And Mental Problems, National Public Radio Stone Age Chefs Spiced Up Food Even 6,000 Years Ago, National Public Radio Salt Blog Can You See Your Own Brain Waves, Discover Magazine Neuroskeptic Antidepressant Use Peaks Just Before Divorce, Discover Magazine Neuroskeptic Perceptions of Animals, The Neuroethics Blog Anxiety and Moral Judgment, Psychology Today Anthropologists Study the Genesis of Reciprocity in Food Sharing, Science Daily From the Academic Literature: Altered Cerebral Perfusion in Executive, Affective, and Motor Networks During Adolescent Depression, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Neurology Time Perception and Depressive Realism: Judgment Type, Psychophysical Functions and Bias, PLoS One Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study, PLoS One Stress-Induced Recruitment of Bone Marrow-Derived Monocytes to the Brain Promotes Anxiety-Like Behavior, Journal of Neuroscience  Natural cooperators: Food sharing in humans and other primates, Evolutionary Anthropology  Musical hallucinations and forgotten tunes – case report and brief literature review, Frontiers in Neurology Education

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.

"Is Deontology a Heuristic? On Psychology, Neuroscience, Ethics, and Law"

Recently Posted on SSRN (and published at the Law & Neuroscience eJournal):

"Is Deontology a Heuristic? On Psychology, Neuroscience, Ethics, and Law"

CASS R. SUNSTEIN, Harvard Law School

A growing body of psychological and neuroscientific research links dual-process theories of cognition with moral reasoning (and implicitly to legal reasoning as well). The relevant research appears to show that at least some deontological judgments are connected with rapid, automatic, emotional processing, and that consequentialist judgments (including utilitarianism) are connected with slower, more deliberative thinking. These findings are consistent with the claim that deontological thinking is best understood as a moral heuristic – one that generally works well, but that also misfires. If this claim is right, it may have large implications for many debates in politics, morality, and law, including those involving the role of retribution, the free speech principle, religious liberty, the idea of fairness, and the legitimacy of cost-benefit analysis. Nonetheless, psychological and neuroscientific research cannot rule out the possibility that consequentialism is wrong and that deontology is right. It tells us about the psychology of moral and legal judgment, but it does no more. On the largest questions, it leaves moral and legal debates essentially as they were before.

 

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Last Edition's Most Popular Article(s): Crazy Pills, New York Times In The Popular Press Mapping the Brain Circuitry That Spots Movement, in Flies, New York Times What makes the ouija board move, Mind Hacks Save Us From Misleading Press Releases, The Neurocritic Common Genetic Ground Found for Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, Time Healthland  Happy Left-Handers’ Day! What Science Says About Handedness, Time Healthland  Two-Faced Facebook: We Like It, but It Doesn’t Make Us Happy, Time Healthland  A Startup With A Blood Test That May Help Diagnose Depression, Forbes Dyslexia 'seen in brain scans' of pre-school children, BBC News Health Induced labour 'linked to autism', BBC News Health Can cognitive behavioural therapy really change our brains?, BBC Science  Do Fish Feel Pain? Not as Humans Do, Study Suggests, Science Daily Are Brainscans a Better Way To Do Job Interviews?, Gizmodo Taking pills for unhappiness reinforces the idea that being sad is not human, Guardian Comment Is Free The Stuff of Those Visions in Clinical Death, New York Times Science  Evidence-based justice: Corrupted memory, Nature News Metric for consciousness tracks waking states, Nature News US brain project puts focus on ethics, Nature News Dementia Test Tweaked For Gen X: Hirohito Out, Oprah In, National Public Radio Shots Blog When Power Goes To Your Head, It May Shut Out Your Heart, National Public Radio Autism’s Unexpected Link to Cancer Genes, New York Times Brains Of Dying Rats Yield Clues About Near-Death Experiences, National Public Radio From the Academic Literature: What are the links between maternal social status, hippocampal function, and HPA axis function in children?, Developmental Science  Unpacking Neuroscience and Neurotechnology - Instructions not Included: Neuroethics Required, Neuroethics A Preconscious Neural Mechanism of Hypnotically Altered Colors: A Double Case Study, PLoS One The Illusion of Saving Face: How People Symbolically Cope With Embarrassment, Psychological Science  Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults, PLoS One Competition as rational action: Why young children cannot appreciate competitive games, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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.

"Towards a Smart Population: A Public Health Framework for Cognitive Enhancement"

Towards a Smart Population: A Public Health Framework for Cognitive Enhancement by
Jayne Lucke and Brad Partridge has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

This paper presents a novel view of the concept of cognitive enhancement by taking a population health perspective. We propose four main modifiable healthy lifestyle factors for optimal cognitive functioning across the population for which there is evidence of safety and efficacy. These include i) promoting adequate sleep, ii) increasing physical activity, iii) encouraging a healthy diet, including minimising consumption of stimulants, alcohol and other drugs including nicotine, iv) and promoting good mental health. We argue that it is not ethical to promote or sanction the use of pharmaceutical drugs as putative cognitive enhancers without acknowledging the adverse effects on population cognitive health of failing to encourage the pursuit of healthy behaviours. We conclude with recommendations to increase the public health relevance of bioethical analyses of the cognitive enhancement debate.

"Ethical Aspects of Computational Neuroscience"

Ethical Aspects of Computational Neuroscience by Tyler D. Bancroft has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

Recent research in computational neuroscience has demonstrated that we now possess the ability to simulate neural systems in significant detail and on a large scale. Simulations on the scale of a human brain have recently been reported. The ability to simulate entire brains (or significant portions thereof) would be a revolutionary scientific advance, with substantial benefits for brain science. However, the prospect of whole-brain simulation comes with a set of new and unique ethical questions. In the present paper, we briefly outline certain of those problems and emphasize the need to begin considering the ethical aspects of computational neuroscience.

"Unpacking Neuroscience and Neurotechnology - Instructions not Included: Neuroethics Required."

Unpacking Neuroscience and Neurotechnology - Instructions not Included: Neuroethics Required. by
James Giordano has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

Using a metaphorical reminiscence upon holiday toys - and the hopes, challenges and possibilities they presented - this essay addresses the ways that the heuristics, outcomes and products of neuroscience have effected change in the human condition, predicament, and being. A note of caution is offered to pragmatically assess what can be done with neurotechnology, what can't, and what should and shouldn't - based upon the capacities and limitations of both the science, and our collective ability to handle knowledge, power and the unknown. This is not an appeal to impede brain research. To the contrary, it is a call to engage neuroethics as a discipline and set of practices 1) to allow a deeper, more finely-grained understanding of brains and their functions in ecological dynamics (that we define as morality and ethics), and 2) to intuit how to engage neuroscientific research and its applications in the social sphere (inclusive of medicine, public life and national agenda), to more accurately perceive how neuroscience is changing human society and the human being, and to instantiate more relevant ethics and laws that are in step with advancing epistemological capital and technological capability.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Last Edition's Most Popular Article(s): Love is a Cognitive Enhancer, Mind Hacks Blog In Sickness and in Health - What Jewish Law Can Say about Psychology and Psychiatry, The Neuroethics Blog In The Popular Press Crazy Pills, New York Times Why Were The Baboons So Sad? Many Theories, No Answers, National Public Radio Dolphins remember each other for decades, Nature News Why The Brains Of High-Powered People May Be More Prone To Addiction, Forbes Fujitsu supercomputer simulates 1 second of brain activity, CNET 'Five of our patients have attempted to take their own lives', The Guardian Can cognitive behavioural therapy really change our brains?, BBC Science When Meditation Helps Mental Illness — And When It Hinders, Time Health & Family Why Brain Scientists Need To Keep Heart Failure In Mind, Discover Magazine Neuroskeptic Blog Intervening in the brain: with what benefit?, The Neuroethics Blog New Technology Lets Paralyzed People Communicate With Pupil Size, Gizmodo Will global warming lead to more war? It’s not that simple, The Washington Post Wonkblog Navigational Cells Located in Human Brains, The New York Times Do or do not: your ability to learn differently when older depends on dopamine, Wellcome trust You needn't be wrong to be called delusional, Guardian  What Is the Funniest Number?, Scientific American  Pigeons, Like Humans, Can Behave Irrationally, Scientific American The Science Behind the Netflix Algorithms That Decide What You’ll Watch Next, Wired Science  Breakthroughs in Bipolar Treatment, The Neurocritic How You Can Train Your Mind To Do The Impossible, Huffington Post Visual neurons mapped in action, Nature When is it rational to be nudged?, Neuroethics at the Core Warming climate drives human conflict, Nature A half hour of hallucinations, Mind Hacks A Mother And Son Live, And Cope, With Mental Illness, National Public Radio What Color Is Your Night Light? It May Affect Your Mood, Science Daily  Social Isolation Leads to Risky Financial Decisions, Time Health & Family From the Academic Literature: Conservatives Can Relax: A(n Ethical) Reanalysis of “Bad News”, Neuroethics  Is There Neurosexism in Functional Neuroimaging Investigations of Sex Differences?, Neuroethics Entrainment of the Human Circadian Clock to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle, Current Biology Decoding the Neuroanatomical Basis of Reading Ability: A Multivoxel Morphometric Study, The Journal of Neuroscience Rines E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Regulates MAO-A Levels and Emotional Responses, Journal of Neuroscience  From Vivaldi to Beatles and back: Predicting lateralized brain responses to music, NeuroImage

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.

"Is There Neurosexism in Functional Neuroimaging Investigations of Sex Differences?"

Is There Neurosexism in Functional Neuroimaging Investigations of Sex Differences? by Cordelia Fine has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

The neuroscientific investigation of sex differences has an unsavoury past, in which scientific claims reinforced and legitimated gender roles in ways that were not scientifically justified. Feminist critics have recently argued that the current use of functional neuroimaging technology in sex differences research largely follows that tradition. These charges of ‘neurosexism’ have been countered with arguments that the research being done is informative and valuable and that an over-emphasis on the perils, rather than the promise, of such research threatens to hinder scientific progress. To investigate the validity of these contrasting concerns, recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigations of sex differences and citation practices were systematically examined. In line with the notion of neurosexism, the research was found to support the influence of false-positive claims of sex differences in the brain, to enable the proliferation of untested, stereotype-consistent functional interpretations, and to pay insufficient attention to the potential plasticity of sex differences in both brain and mind. This, it is argued, creates a literature biased toward the presentation of sex differences in the brain as extensive, functionally significant, and fixed—and therefore implicitly supportive of a gender essentialist perspective. It is suggested that taking feminist criticisms into account would bring about substantial improvement in the quality of the science, as well as a reduction in socially harmful consequences.

"Conservatives Can Relax: A(n Ethical) Reanalysis of 'Bad News'"

Conservatives Can Relax: A(n Ethical) Reanalysis of “Bad News” by Cordelia Fine has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

A recent article in Neuroethics posited “bad news for conservatives,” on the basis of survey data collected on line. On the basis of bivariate correlations between self-reported conservatism/liberalism and a variety of moral propositions, the author inferred that those moral judgments were ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal.’ Then, based on a series of bivariate correlations between those same moral propositions and measures of “morally worrisome” personality characteristics, the author concluded that conservatives tended to have these morally worrisome characteristics. Unfortunately, the original article was replete with methodological and statistical errors. This paper presents a reanalysis of the data from the original article, using good statistical and methodological technique. The reanalysis suggests that there are some small but potentially theoretically meaningful relationships between some moral propositions and three morally worrisome (antisocial) personality characteristics. The data also suggest that these relationships can change substantially depending on other conditions, so should not yet be generalized.

PEBS Neuroethics Roundup (JHU)

Last Edition's Most Popular Article: Bad news for conservatives? Moral judgments and the dark triad personality traits, Neuroethics In The Popular Press O.K., Glass, New Yorker Status and Stress, New York Times Opinionator Blog Train of Thought Derailed: How an Accident Can Affect Your Brain, Scientific American The Smell of Chocolate Boosts Book Sales, Study Says, NPR Two-Way Blog Love is a Cognitive Enhancer, Mind Hacks Blog How Common Is It to Dream of Smelling Something? New York Times: Science Alzheimer's Blood Test Edges Closer, BBC News: Health In Sickness and in Health - What Jewish Law Can Say about Psychology and Psychiatry, The Neuroethics Blog Guides to a Journey Into the Brain, New York Times: Books Positivity: Retract the Bathwater, Save the Baby, Neuroskeptic Breastfeeding and Other Early Influencers on Children's IQ, Time Healthland Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts? The Atlantic Scientists Trace Memories of Things That Never Happened, New York Times: Science The Ethics of Saving Lives With Autonomous Cars Are Far Murkier Than You Think, Wired What Drove Man to Monogamy: Researchers Can't Agree, Time: Healthland Spiders May Have Personalities, and Some Are Bolder Than Others, Wired From the Academic Literature: Neuroscience for Educators: What Are They Seeking, and What Are They Finding? Neuroethics Antidepressant and Neurocognitive Effects of Isoflurane Anesthesia versus Electroconvulsive Therapy in Refractory Depression, PLOS One Could intranasal oxytocin be used to enhance relationships? Research imperatives, clinical policy, and ethical considerations, Curr Opin Psychiatry Creating a False Memory in the Hippocampus, Science Addiction: Current Criticism of the Brain Disease Paradigm, AJOB Neuroscience Towards a Smart Population: A Public Health Framework for Cognitive Enhancement, Neuroethics

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.

"Ethics in Neuroscience Curricula: A Survey of Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US"

Ethics in Neuroscience Curricula: A Survey of Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US by Gerald Walther has been published in the most recent issue of Neuroethics:

Abstract

This paper analyses ethical training in neuroscience curricula at universities in Australia, Canada, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. The main findings are that 52 % of all courses have ethical training available, while in 82 % of those cases, the training is mandatory. In terms of specific contents of the teaching, ethical issues about ‘animal subjects and human participation in research’, ‘scientific misconduct’, and ‘treatment of data’ were the most prominent. A special emphasis during the research was placed on the prevalence of dual-use bioethics. In total, only 3 % of all courses mention it in any of their modules. One of the major findings of the survey was the trend towards ‘mainstreaming’ ethics education particularly in the UK, which is to disperse ethics among the various modules within the education instead of relying on a single ethics module. The paper discusses the utility of this approach for science education as well as describes the overall difficulties that course coordinators face when trying to teach ethics based on the responses to the qualitative part to the survey.