Neuroethics

Neuroscience has advanced quickly over the past ten years, and the tools now available to alter brain activity raise ethical questions that can no longer wait. This volume, subtitled Anticipating the Future, brings together contributors who examine these questions and look ahead to where the field may be heading.

Among the issues explored are how to weigh diagnosis against prediction, and invasive interventions against non-invasive ones, as the science changes. The authors also consider whether new standards are needed for declaring death in people who may become organ donors, and which frameworks could allow data from emerging technologies, once placed in public databases, to deliver benefits while protecting the privacy of health information. These and many other neuroethical concerns are treated in depth.

The contributors are scholars from neurology, neuroscience, ethics, law, public health and philosophy, and the book sets out the considerations they regard as central for the future. It is aimed at those working in neuroethics, neuroscience and psychology, and it is also intended for physicians in neurological medicine, scholars in the humanities and law, and health policy makers.