Biological - Debate Flashcards
The Ethics of Neuroscience
> Understand consciousness
Treat criminal behaviour
Enhance neurological function
Improve marketing techniques
Ethical - Understand Consciousness
Koubessi et al (2004)
>research on consciousness
> experiences of a 54 year old woman who suffered from severe epilepsy
> treated by placing an electrode that was electrically stimulated near the claustrum. = stopped responding to any commands - stopped regained consciousness with no recollection of the event.
Help make decisions about patients in a vegetative state of whether to end their life or not based on the knowledge of whether they remain conscious.
Not ethical - understand Consciousness
> brings the question of whether a person in a persistent vegetative state should have life-support withdrawn knowing that even though they are currently conscious that it might be regained.
Weakness to reliability -evidence from a case sudy of only one person who was suffering of epilepsy (abnormal brain)
Ethical - Treat Criminal Behaviour,
Cherek et al (2002) neuroscientific research can be used
>Believed criminal behaviour stems from abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters
>Investigated the levels of impulsivity and aggression in males with a history of criminal behaviour.
>drug = decrease in impulsive responses and aggression.
Raine et al
>regions of the brains that were affected in criminals.
>evidence could be used to treat those with these brain differences before committing any crime.
Ethical Social Implications - Treat Criminal behaviour
benefit society = make it a safer place as well as allowing people with disorders live a more ‘normal’ life and integrate into society.
Not Ethical - Treat Criminal Behaviour
> criminal behaviour result of social context.
acceptable to include mandatory neurological interventions for prisoners as, according to Martha Farah (2004) it denies an individual’s freedom to express their own thoughts and personality.
unethical to give a convicted criminal a choice between prison or medication as it gives them little choice as they would feel obliged to take the medication.
Raine
>could lead to a person being removed from society, given a treatment only based on the structure of their brain, or even wrongfully convicted of a crime
Ethical - Enhance neurological function
> used to improve abilities and performance of individuals while completing complex academic tasks.
Cohen Kadosh et al (2012) - TDCS (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) leads to many improvements - problem-solving, language, memory, and mathematics. = used to prepare for exams
Not Ethical - Enhance Neurological Function
TDCS
>no liscensing rules = used by a poorly qualified clinician - ineffective result and severe problems such as brain damage.
>not available everywhere = unfair some benefit
>ethically right? similar performance-enhancing substances have been banned in sport
Ethical - Improve marketing skills
> benefitial to economy = applied in the world of advertising and marketing
eye-tracking equipment - shows what catches a person’s eye when watching advertisments and shopping
info used to increase sales and profits.
Not ethical - Improve marketing Techniques
Issues to neuromarketing
>access to our inner thoughts and it is not obliged to abide by ethical codes of practice
> Wilson et al (2008) -neuromarketing research could manipulate our free will as advertisers for big brands could deliver individualized messages.
Conclusion
> very useful and effective as it gives us an insight to how the brain works and helps us understand it in order to explain the behaviour of people and treat them if necessary, for example criminals.
Can be used to enhance neurological function, and to help the economy by improving marketing techniques.
Other hand
>many ethical issues to using neuroscience for research as it can deny an individual’s free will and the freedom to express themselves, for example if it was madatory for criminals to take drugs to be treated
>gives insight to people’s personal thoughts for example when using neuromarketing, which can be unethical.
