DOCSLIB.ORG

What Is Neuroethics? Empirical and Theoretical Neuroethics Georg Northoff

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What Is Neuroethics? Empirical and Theoretical Neuroethics Georg Northoff CE: Namrta; YCO/200430; Total nos of Pages: 5; YCO 200430 What is neuroethics? Empirical and theoretical neuroethics Georg Northoff Canada Research Chair for Mind, Brain and Purpose of review Neuroethics, Michael Smith Chair for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Institute of Mental Health Neuroethics is a recently emerging field that deals with predominantly empirical Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, and practical issues of ethics in neuroscience. In contrast, theoretical and Canada methodological considerations have rather been neglected and thus what may be Correspondence to Georg Northoff, Institute of Mental called theoretical neuroethics. Health Research University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7K4, Canada Recent findings Tel: +1 613 722 6521; fax: +1 613 798 2982; The review focuses on informed consent and moral judgment as examples of empirical e-mail: [email protected] neuroethics and norm–fact circularity and method-based neuroethics as issues Current Opinion in Psychiatry 2009, 22:000–000 of a theoretical neuroethics. Summary It is argued that we need to consider theoretical and methodological issues in order to develop neuroethics as a distinct discipline, which as such can be distinguished from both philosophy/ethics and neuroscience. Keywords informed consent, method-based neuroethics, moral judgment, norm–fact circularity Curr Opin Psychiatry 22:000–000 ß 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 0951-7367 about moral judgment. What is a moral judgment and Introduction how does it affect our ethical decisions in the current Therecentprogressinneurosciencehasledtoethical neuroscience? The question about the nature of moral questions concerning the emergence of a novel field, judgment has triggered many neuroscientific investi- neuroethics. Neuroethics can broadly and preliminarily gations of the neural mechanisms underlying moral judg- be defined as drawing relationships between neuroscien- ment (see [4]) that touches upon the neuroscience of tific observations and ethical concepts. Roskies [1] dis- ethics. However, the focus on the impact of moral judg- tinguished between ethics of neuroscience and neuro- ment on our ethical decisions in neuroscience may rather science of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience deal with be considered a question for the ethics of neuroscience. ethical problems in neuroscience arising from new forms The discussion of moral judgment thus provides one of interventions into the brain, whereas the neuroscience possible node point where both neuroscience of ethics of ethics investigates the neural mechanisms that and ethics of neuroscience intersect and converge. may possibly underlie ethical concepts and practices like informed consent, moral judgment, free will, and Although a clear-cut distinction between neuroscience of so on. ethics and ethics of neuroscience seems to remain unclear, they share their focus on empirical issues; be No sharp distinction exists between the neuroscience of they predominantly neuroscientific, as in the neuro- ethics and the ethics of neuroscience. Consider the science of ethics, or rather practical or ethical, as in the example of informed consent: How valid is the informed ethics of neuroscience. One may consequently subsume consent of patients whose cognitive and emotional both ethics of neuroscience and neuroscience of ethics capacities are altered or deteriorated by the nature of under the umbrella what may be called empirical neu- their disorder, as, for instance, in dementia or schizo- roethics. The first aim of my paper is to highlight some phrenia? This is an issue in the domain of ethics of recent development in empirical neuroethics, thereby neuroscience. It has also triggered empirical investi- focusing on informed consent and moral judgment. gations of those cognitive and neural functions that are implicated in giving a valid informed consent that falls more into the domain of neuroscience of ethics (see [2] as Empirical neuroethics well as [3 ]). Empirical neuroethics focuses on the empirical, that is, psychological and neural conditions that may underlie Another such example where neuroscience of ethics and ethical concepts like informed consent, free will, and ethics and neuroscience converge is the recent discussion so on. 0951-7367 ß 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins DOI:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32832e088b CE: Namrta; YCO/200430; Total nos of Pages: 5; YCO 200430 2 History and philosophy Informed consent and emotions affective and cognitive functions [34]. This suggests that Informed consent is crucial in clinical scientific studies of a valid informed consent may be necessarily (though not healthy individuals and psychiatric patients. This has led sufficiently) dependent on a specific balance between to an extensive research of the factors and functions affective and cognitive functions and thus between determining the kind of consent psychiatric patients give, medial and lateral prefrontal cortex. If the medial–lateral that is, whether they accept, refuse, or remain ambivalent prefrontal cortical neural activity is altered and unba- about study participation (see [2,5–13]). Giving informed lanced, as, for instance, in depression and schizophrenia consent requires the capacity to make a decision, that is, (see [35,36,37]), the constitution of decision making decision making [7,8,12–20]. Decision making is a com- implicated in informed consent may be affected. This in plex process that involves both cognitive and affective turn may diminish the validity of the consent. Such functions, as pointed out by recent neuroscientific scenario remains highly speculative though at this point research [2,21,22]. because no imaging study during the decision making of informed consent has yet been conducted. Cognitive functions in decision making concern atten- tion, working memory, executive functions, and others Moral judgment (see [7,8,13–20,23]). More specifically, the capacity to We make moral judgments daily like whether we should make a decision in informed consent, the so-called deci- help the person in front us to get up to his feet even if it sional capacity, involves cognitive functions like under- means that we would then come too late to work, entail- standing, appreciation, and reasoning. These cognitive ing possible rebuff by the boss. These kinds of situations functions and, therefore, decisional capacity have present us with a moral dilemma whether we should act recently been systematically investigated with the in the interest of others or rather according to our own MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical goals and interests. Various imaging studies [4,38,39,40] Research (MacCAT-CR) [5,11]. The MacCAT-CR presented sentences where persons described moral focuses predominantly on cognitive functions like under- dilemma situations where they had to choose between standing, appreciation, reasoning, and expressing a choice self-interest and moral decisions, that is, decisions that that are supposedly implicated in the decisional capacity were in favor of other persons rather than their own. for informed consent. These imaging studies revealed the regions that are particularly active during moral action and judgment. In addition to cognitive functions, decision making in Various studies (see [4,38,39,40]) demonstrated the general and decisional capacity in informed consent in involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) particular involve empathy and emotions [2,6,9,10,21, and the ventral striatum in moral judgment. 22,24]. Empathy describes the ability to share another person’s cognitive and emotional inner life (see [25,26, This, however, raises several problems. The above-men- 27,28,29,30,31]). Empathic sharing between the con- tioned regions, the MPFC and the ventral striatum, are senting individual and the investigator may be crucial in not only involved in moral judgment but also in various determining decisional capacity and ultimately the con- other processes ranging from emotion, mentalizing with sent itself. This is possible only when the consenting inference of other’s mental states, learning of reward person is able to recognize the investigator’s emotions, contingencies (reward representation), and thinking thus requiring emotion recognition [32]. In contrast to about one’s own mental states resulting in self-awareness cognitive functions, the impact of empathy and emotion (see [41] for an overview). This raises not only the recognition on decisional capacity and the consent pro- question about the anatomical specificity of these regions cess has yet to be investigated empirically. for moral judgment but also about the psychological components implicated in moral judgment. The involvement of specific cognitive and affective functions in informed consent may also provide some Does moral judgment implicate various psychological clues about its possible underlying neural mechanisms. functions as diverse as learning, reward, mental state Cognitive functions like working memory and attention attribution, theory of mind, and so on? How can we are well known to be associated with neural activity in the characterize moral judgment in both psychological and lateral prefrontal cortex, whereas emotional functions neural terms? The above-mentioned studies clearly rather involve medial cortical and subcortical regions indicate that emotions and empathy are central psycho- [33,34]. If so, the balance between, for instance, medial logical processes in moral judgment
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Neuroethics: an Overview
    1 Neuroethics: An Overview Chemists can tell us how molecules interact and change according to general principles rooted in physics. No surprise there—the relation be- tween chemistry and physics is a textbook example of intertheoretic re- duction in the philosophy of science. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, biologists began to explain the functions of cells in terms of the molecules that make them up. This has been worked out in detail for many cellular functions and in gist for the rest. Even those special cells called neurons, with their special tricks of signaling and changing con- nections to one another, are being explained in terms of more fundamen- tal physical and chemical processes. While cellular neuroscientists are steadily filling in our understanding of what neurons do and the molecular machinery by which they do it, systems neuroscientists armed with computational models are showing us how groups of these cells in combinations can do even more tricks. The behavior of large ensembles of neurons can, in turn, be studied by neuroscientists and psychologists by putting people in scanners, stimulat- ing specific brain areas, or observing the effects of brain lesions. Percep- tion, memory, decision making, and many other mental functions have been associated with the activity of specific sets of localized populations of neurons. At this relatively molar level of description, the brain’s oper- ations can be linked upwards to psychology as well as downwards to biology. It is here, at this juncture between psychology and the natural sciences, that neuroethics comes in. In principle, and increasingly in practice, we can understand the human mind as part of the material world.
    [Show full text]
  • Emerging Ethical Issues in Neuroscience. Nature
    commentary Emerging ethical issues in neuroscience Martha J. Farah There is growing public awareness of the ethical issues raised by progress in many areas of neuroscience. This commentary reviews the issues, which are triaged in terms of their novelty and their imminence, with an exploration of the relevant ethical principles in each case. In less than a year, “neuroethics” has ical issues raised are similarly varied, and the possibility of safe mood enhancement. joined the vocabulary of most neurosci- include the rights to equal opportunity, The growth in sales of SSRIs clearly indi- entists. Exactly what the word signifies privacy and freedom. cates that more people, with less severe may not be clear to most of us, however. depression, are using them. Has the Both the word and the field to which it Enhancement of normal function threshold for SSRI use dropped below the refers come largely from individuals out- If drugs and other forms of central ner- line separating the healthy from the sick? side neuroscience. Newspaper columnist vous system intervention can be used to This question is hard to answer for sever- William Safire gave the field its name, and improve the mood, cognition or behavior al reasons. First, the line between healthy http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience defining statements of the issues are found of people with problems in these areas, and sick is a fuzzy and perhaps arbitrary in such sources as Brain Policy1 by bioethi- what might they do for normal individu- one. There is no simple discontinuity cist Robert Blank, Our Posthuman Future2 als? Some treatments can be viewed as between the characteristic mood of by historian Francis Fukuyama and a ‘normalizers’, which have little or no effect patients with diagnosable mood disorders cover story in The Economist magazine on systems that are already normal (for and the range of moods found in the gen- (May 23, 2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Program for Neuroethics & Clinical Consciousness
    John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics MedStar Washington Hospital Center Program for Neuroethics & Clinical Consciousness The John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center introduces a research program devoted to the intersections of philosophy, neuroscience, empirical psychology, and clinical neurology. The Program for Neuroethics and Clinical Consciousness (PNCC) serves as a special research unit of the Lynch Center, contributing to relevant policy and practice, such as institutional criteria for brain death, improved evaluations of decision-making capacity in disorders of consciousness, and specialized analyses of clinical cases involving neurointensive care. In addition, the PNCC invites scholars of relevant disciplinary backgrounds and at various degrees of study, to collaborate in investigating the ontological and normative clinical implications of ongoing advances within these fields. Examples of questions and subjects involving PNCC research: • How cognitive scientific (computational-representational) views of consciousness and empirical psychology can contribute to our understanding of morality and ethical decision-making • The determination of death via clinical criteria for total brain failure and the conceptual/physiological distinction between higher- and lower-level neurologic function • The use of fMRI and EEG technologies in the clinical confirmation and subsequent treatment of disorders of consciousness • Improving the timely diagnosis, capacity assessment, and quality of life of patients experiencing
    [Show full text]
  • Announcements | Annonces Annonces
    Prepared by the Neuroethics research unit at the IRCM Préparé par l’unité de recherche en neuroéthique Literature Update - April 15th 2016/15 avril 2016 de l’IRCM B r a i n s t o r m Vol. 9 No. 7 Inside this i s s u e : Announcements 1 Announcements | Annonces Annonces Competition – Visiting Scholar in Neuroethics 2016-2017 Neuroethics 2 literature Neuroethics Research Unit – Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal, IRCM Littérature en neuroéthique This program aims to provide early-career and established researchers from any disciplinary background with the opportunity to engage in neuroethics research within a dynamic environ- Resources 4 ment. Applicants will submit proposals for a research project to be completed during a one- to Ressources two-month stay with the Neuroethics Research Unit of the IRCM in Montréal, Canada. Competition Details We are seeking applications from both national and international scholars (advanced graduate students or those with a professional or doctoral degree) who have a strong interest in under- taking research in neuroethics. While no formal neuroethics experience is required, applicants must propose a research project that can make an original contribution to the field. All visiting scholars must be able to work on their research with minimal supervision and priority will be given to candidates who demonstrate an interest in building a collaborative project with mem- bers of the Neuroethics Research Unit. Visiting scholars will have their return travel to Montreal covered (up to $1500 CAD) and will receive a taxable stipend of $750-1500 CAD. Scholars are asked to propose an appropriate E d i t o r i a l length of stay (1 to 2 months).
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics for Fantasyland Or for the Clinic? the Limitations of Speculative Ethics
    Article Neuroethics for Fantasyland or for the Clinic? The Limitations of Speculative Ethics . SVEN OVE HANSSON Abstract: What purpose can be served by empirically unsubstantiated speculation in ethics? In answering that question, we need to distinguish between the major branches of ethics. In foundational moral philosophy, the use of speculative examples is warranted to the extent that ethical principles and theories are assumed to be applicable even under the extreme circum- stances referred to in these examples. Such an assumption is in need of justification, and it cannot just be taken for granted. In applied ethics, the use of unrealistic scenarios is more difficult to justify. It can be positively harmful if it diverts our attention from more urgent issues. Neuroethics is one of the areas of applied ethics where speculative scenarios have taken up https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms much of the attention that could instead have been devoted to problems that are relevant for the treatment and care of patients. Speculative ethics has often been defended with mere possibility arguments that may at first hand seem difficult to refute. It is shown with examples how such claims can be defeated with a combination of science and argumentation analysis. Keywords: neuroethics; applied ethics; speculation; mere possibility arguments; specula- tive examples; unrealistic scenarios Introduction Philosophy, perhaps in particular moral philosophy, differs from other academic disciplines in its profuse and unabashed use of examples that are empirically
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics in Educational Technology: Keeping the Brain in Mind When Developing Frameworks for Ethical Decision-Making
    Chapter 11 Neuroethics in Educational Technology: Keeping the Brain in Mind When Developing Frameworks for Ethical Decision-Making Thomas D. Parsons “It just doesn’t matter whether the data are stored somewhere inside the biological organism or stored in the external world. What matters is how information is poised for retrieval and for immediate use as and when required.” Clark (2003), p. 69 Abstract Cyberlearning involves the convergence of psychology, education, learning technologies, computer science, engineering, and information science. Given the similar rate of advances in the educational neuroscience over the past couple decades, there is a growing interest in interaction between neuroscience and education. While cyberlearn- ing has called attention to the stimulating potential that these new technologies (and the research behind them) have to offer, less emphasis has been placed upon the moral and ethical issues that may result from the widespread use of the learning technologies and neuroscience. This chapter aims to offer a first attempt at discussing some of the ethical issues inherent in brain-based cyberlearning research and practice. Introduction Cyberlearning is a recent branch of educational psychology that has increased in importance as new technologies have been developed and proliferate our class- rooms (Montfort & Brown, 2013). The National Science Foundation has developed T. D. Parsons (*) College of Information, University of North Texas, Computational Neuropsychology and Simulation, Denton, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected]; https://cns.unt.edu/ © Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2019 195 T. D. Parsons et al. (eds.), Mind, Brain and Technology, Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02631-8_11 196 T.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Neuroethics?
    The BRAIN Initiative promises to revolutionize our understanding of how the brain works, and foster development of tools that can precisely intervene on brain function. This research may deliver great insight and treatments to help affected patients and families. As part of this work, research teams might interview deep brain stimulation research participants about atypical side effects, such as personality changes, and how they perceive these as compared to their original symptoms. Or, researchers might explore disease- and/or treatment-induced fluctuating consent capacity and whether it suggests a need for changes in informed consent for brain stimulation studies. These are examples of how neuroethics can contribute to neuroscience research. What is neuroethics? A tool for the advancement of neuroscience Familiar topics in bioethics such as privacy, fairness, and autonomy can take on new dimensions and complexities given the unprecedented abilities of new neurotechnologies, and the brain’s centrality to fundamental aspects of our selves1. As such, neuroscience research raises ethical questions beyond typical research ethics or the ethics of emerging technologies. Such questions may include: • How might new neurotechnologies disrupt fundamental notions of free will and agency? What broader implications could this entail for legal policies or commercial realms? • What are the post-trial responsibilities of researchers (and funders) to participants who benefit from experimental implanted neural devices? • If collecting and sharing neural
    [Show full text]
  • From Responsible Research and Innovation to Responsibility by Design
    Journal of Responsible Innovation ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjri20 From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design Bernd Carsten Stahl, Simisola Akintoye, Lise Bitsch, Berit Bringedal, Damian Eke, Michele Farisco, Karin Grasenick, Manuel Guerrero, William Knight, Tonii Leach, Sven Nyholm, George Ogoh, Achim Rosemann, Arleen Salles, Julia Trattnig & Inga Ulnicane To cite this article: Bernd Carsten Stahl, Simisola Akintoye, Lise Bitsch, Berit Bringedal, Damian Eke, Michele Farisco, Karin Grasenick, Manuel Guerrero, William Knight, Tonii Leach, Sven Nyholm, George Ogoh, Achim Rosemann, Arleen Salles, Julia Trattnig & Inga Ulnicane (2021): From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design, Journal of Responsible Innovation, DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 25 Aug 2021. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjri20 JOURNAL OF RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 RESEARCH ARTICLE From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design Bernd Carsten Stahl a, Simisola Akintoye a, Lise Bitsch b, Berit Bringedal c, Damian Eke a, Michele Farisco d,e, Karin Grasenick f, Manuel Guerrero
    [Show full text]
  • Free Will: Real Or Illusion a Debate with Contributions by Christian List
    Free Will: Real or Illusion A Debate With contributions by Christian List, Gregg Caruso, and Cory Clark This is a preprint of an exchange published in The Philosopher, Vol. 108, No. 1 The published version can be found at: thephilosopher1923.org/product-page/winter-2020-the-other-animals © C. List, G. Caruso, and C. Clark Free Will: Real or Illusion? Christian List If you are a regular reader of popular science writings, the chances are that you have come across articles or books arguing that free will is an illusion. Writers such as Sam Harris, Michael Gazzaniga, and Jerry Coyne, among others, have influentially claimed that the notion of free will – a person’s capacity to choose and control his or her own actions – is refuted by modern science. They argue that human actions are caused not by people’s conscious mental states, but by physical processes in their brains and bodies and the world at large, processes over which people have no control. If this is right, the idea of free will is a remnant of a superseded, unscientific worldview. Although such free-will skepticism is not yet the established view in society, nor dominant in academic philosophy, it is gaining prominence, and if it became accepted as the truth, it would raise significant questions about the picture of humans as choice-making agents, and it would cast into doubt society’s practices of assigning responsibility to people for their actions. It seems problematic to hold a person responsible for something he or she did not freely do. Some skeptics are untroubled by these implications or even find them congenial.
    [Show full text]
  • Is the Neuroscience of Ethics Really a New Challenge to Moral Philosophy? Sarah Songhorian(Α)
    RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA ISSN 2039-4667; E-ISSN 2239-2629 DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2019.0001 Vol. 10 (2019), n. 1, pp. 1-15 RICERCHE The Methods of Neuroethics: Is the Neuroscience of Ethics Really a New Challenge to Moral Philosophy? Sarah Songhorian(α) Ricevuto: 23 novembre 2018; accettato: 5 marzo 2019 █ Abstract Within the otherwise lively debate on neuroethics, little attention has been devoted to the pe- culiar methodological issues and challenges it faces. My aim is to track down its methodological specifici- ties. Firstly, I will investigate to which traditional debates neuroethics bears similarity and to what extent it actually represents a novelty in ethical thinking. While the ethics of neuroscience is akin to bioethics, the neuroscience of ethics seems akin to moral psychology. And yet they differ as far as the level of expla- nation of human moral behavior and reasoning is concerned. Thus, while the neuroscience of ethics and moral psychology share a family resemblance, they cannot be reduced to one another. Secondly, I will ex- plore three different philosophical temperaments towards the role empirical findings can and should have in normative ethics and in metaethics. Prudential reasons would recommend openness to new sources of evidence without risking either reductionism nor neglect. KEYWORDS: Neuroethics; Methods; Moral Psychology; Empirical Ethics; Levels of Explanation █ Riassunto I metodi della neuroetica: la neuroscienza dell’etica è davvero una nuova sfida per la filosofia morale? – Nonostante il dibattito in ambito neuroetico sia molto vivace, poca attenzione è stata dedicata alla questione relativa al suo metodo specifico e ai problemi a cui essa va incontro.
    [Show full text]
  • VIEW Open Access Neuroethics: the Pursuit of Transforming Medical Ethics in Scientific Ethics Gustavo Figueroa*
    Figueroa Biol Res (2016) 49:11 DOI 10.1186/s40659-016-0070-y Biological Research REVIEW Open Access Neuroethics: the pursuit of transforming medical ethics in scientific ethics Gustavo Figueroa* Abstract Ethical problems resulting from brain research have given rise to a new discipline termed neuroethics, representing a new kind of knowledge capable of discovering the neural basis for universal ethics. The article (1) tries to evaluate the contributions of neuroethics to medical ethics and its suitability to outline the foundations of universal ethics, (2) critically analyses the process of founding this universal ethic. The potential benefits of applying neuroimaging, psy- chopharmacology and neurotechnology have to be carefully weighed against their potential harm. In view of these questions, an intensive dialogue between neuroscience and the humanities is more necessary than ever. Keywords: Neuroethics, Free will, Mind-body problem, Neuroscience Background Origin of neuroethics Toulmin provocatively postulated that medicine saved Medicine emerged in Greece as a profession, that is, a Western ethics from its implicit, although increasingly professio, which has a religious origin: to profess is an act decadence product of academic discussions with little that demands delivering, an activity that demands com- concrete value for the lives of human beings, when creat- mitting one’s self entirely and for life. It is a kind of con- ing bioethics based on the urgency of physicians at the secration and those who exercise it are consecrates [7, 8]. bedsides of their patients [1]. Despite his astute reflec- From this the Hippocratic “Oath” was born at the dawn- tion, he did not consider two aspects.
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics: the Institutionalization of Ethics in Neuroscience Amer Cavalheiro Hamdan
    Neuroethics: the institutionalization of ethics in neuroscience Amer Cavalheiro Hamdan Abstract Recent advances in neuroscience have led to numerous ethical questions. Neuroethics is the study of ethical, legal and social advancements in neuroscience which, despite being a recently developed discipline, has a long historical tradition. The concern with ethical issues in neuroscience is extremely old and dates back to the philosophical and scientific traditions that originally sought to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior. More recently, the field of neuroethics has emerged in the context of public and academic debate over the consequences of the advances arising from neuroscience. In the current context, technological innovations, which have arisen from the expansion of neuroscience research, have raised new ethical dilemmas. This article aims to analyze the historical course of ethics within the field of neuroscience, specifically the appearance and the recent institutionalization of neuroethics. Atualização Keywords: Neuroscience. Ethical analysis. Bioethical issues. Biomedical technology. Resumo Neuroética: a institucionalização da ética na neurociência Os recentes avanços na neurociência suscitam inúmeras questões éticas. Neuroética é o estudo dos avanços éticos, legais e sociais em neurociência. Apesar de ser uma disciplina desenvolvida recentemente, a neuroética tem uma longa tradição histórica. A preocupação com questões éticas na neurociência é antiga e remonta às tradições filosóficas e científicas que originalmente tinham procurado compreender a relação entre cérebro e comportamento. Mais recentemente, o campo da neuroética surgiu no contexto do debate público e acadê- mico sobre os efeitos dos avanços decorrentes da neurociência. No contexto atual, as inovações tecnológicas, que surgiram do crescimento da pesquisa em neurociência, levantaram novos dilemas éticos.
    [Show full text]