Rethinking the Thinking Cap: Ethics of Neural Enhancement Using Noninvasive Brain Stimulation

Overview

Journal Neurology

Specialty Neurology

Date 2011 Jan 12

PMID 21220723

Citations 32

Authors

Roy Hamilton

Samuel Messing

Anjan Chatterjee

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Although a growing body of evidence suggests that noninvasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation have the capacity to enhance neural function in both brain-injured and neurally intact individuals, the implications of their potential use for cosmetic self-enhancement have not been fully explored. We review 3 areas in which noninvasive brain stimulation has the potential to enhance neurologic function: cognitive skills, mood, and social cognition. We then characterize the ethical problems that affect the practice of cosmetic neurology, including safety, character, justice, and autonomy, and discuss how these problems may apply to the use of noninvasive brain stimulation for self-enhancement.

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