CAN WE TRUST CONSUMERS WITH THEIR BRAINS? POPULAR COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE, BRAIN IMAGES, SELF-HELP AND THE CONSUMER* Tracy D. Gunter** I. INTRODUCTION ................................... 483 II. THE BRAIN'S RISE TO PROMINENCE ................. 486 III. THE BRAIN AS A ROCK STAR ....................... 497 IV. THE RISE OF THE NEUROS AND NEURO SELF-HELP.......503 A. The Market for Brain Self Help Products ............. 506 B. Examples of Commercial Brain Products..............509 V. BRAIN SELF-HELP CONSUMERS AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ............................... ..... 514 A. Why Protect the Brain Self-Help Consumer?........518 B. Examples of Information Offered to Consumers... 523 C. Enhancing ConsumerLiteracy ....... ........ 532 VI. MECHANISMS OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ..... ...... 537 A. Self-Regula tion and Soft La w ...... ............... 539 B. DirectRegulation........................... 541 C CES Devices:An Example ofRegulation and Enforcement.. ................................ 543 VII. CONCLUSION .............................. ...... 550 I. INTRODUCTION Cognitive neuroscience captures the imagination by exploring connections between the physical brain and the abstract mind. Through recent advances in functional * ©2014 Tracy D. Gunter. All rights reserved ** Tracy Gunter, M.D., Associate Professor Of Clinical Psychiatry at the IU School of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Law, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, e-mail
[email protected]. I thank research assistants Emily Steeb and Scott Spicer for editorial help and