Biological - Neuroscience

Question 1

FOR - understand consciousness

Answer 1

• neuro helped develop effective treatments for a variety of MH issues and disorders
• increased understanding of localisation of brain function which enabled DBS to be used as a treatment
• drugs like SSRIs used to treat depressed, restore NT levels, less impacted by depression
• 82% of 250 - Kahn. 17 small studies
• DBS highly successful - demonstrates advances in NS and neurosurgery
  —> Mayberg 2005 - 4/6 with severe depression had reduced symptoms after DBS
• treatments prescribed by neuroscience could save the UK economy billions of pounds
• drug therapy for depression costs less than if left untreated (370mill)
• allow depressed to live normal lives and integrate into society

Question 2

AGAINST - understand consciousness

Answer 2

• treatment from NS can cause psychological and/or physical harm due to side effects (memory, aggression etc)
• DBS has many severe complications, like brain bleeds from dislodged electrodes
• long term side effect are unknown
• Ferguson - people 2x more likely to attempt suicide on antidepressants than when not
• side effects of drug occasionally worse than disorder - ethical impact
• pharma companies focus on profit as oppose to need due to too much monetary value
• not all benefit
• ethical issues are ignored for the ‘greater good’

Question 3

FOR - treat criminal behaviour

Answer 3

• rehabilitate offenders or prevent offences
• treat biological abnormalities with biological treatment - chemical or surgery
• scan brains of people before commit any offences
• Raines findings of regions of brain differing in violent criminals compared to normal
• Cherek 2002 - males with a history of criminal behaviour show decrease in aggression and impulsiveness after taking antidepressants
• society a safer place if criminals are treated
• potential positive outcome which implies ethical
• reduction in rime means less money for prison system so UK economy benefits

Question 4

AGAINST - treat criminal behaviour

Answer 4

• can we use brain info to prevent crime by identifying offenders before they offend?
• unsure if brain abnormalities always led to criminal behaviour - more research necessary
• Farah 2004 suggests this would be denying individual freedom
• Raines study raises social and ethical implications
  —> person removed from society or given compulsory treatment simply due to brain structure
  —> Raines sample too narrow to draw any solid conclusions
• cost a lot of money to scan everyone, especially if brain surgery was needed, the surgery and recovery would be costly to economy
• people labelled by brains rather than actions - ethics?
• brain may not even be cause of behaviour so would be unethical to change it

Question 5

FOR - enhance neurological function

Answer 5

• if we know how the brain works, we can enhance it to improve behaviours and abilities of individuals
• TDCS involves passing an electrical current across specific parts of brain to enhance its performance
• Kadosh 2012 - led to improvement in problem solving, language, memory and attention
• could be sued to enhance exam performance which would benefit society
• human brain organoids are developed from stem cells and can be used to provide nature brains
  —> removes some of the thick issues of brain research
• relatively low cost

Question 6

AGAINST - enhance neurological function

Answer 6

• raise ethical issues for things like licensing rules
  —> apparatus hard to get hold of, could be only available to rich etc
• unqualified individuals administering it to people could have serious ethical consequences such as brain damage
• risky procedures need to be controlled
• fairly cheaply but not available to all - unfair for only some to benefit
• abused by rich, leading to socioeconomic problems
• risk of bringing damage
• human brain organoids - when is too far?

Question 7

Intro

Answer 7

• research into neuro has led to a number of ethical issues as it can be both beneficial and detrimental
• it can be used to improve quality of life and reduce suffering
• for example, development of drug therapy for mental health issues like depression has enabled individuals to live normally
• however, it can also be used to manipulate thoughts and behaviour, and methods like DBS can invade people privacy
• therefore there’s a debate as to whether neuro research is ethical or unethical

Question 8

Conclusion

Answer 8

• research into neuro has increased our understanding of how the brain works, resulting n the development of explanation of behaviour
• inventions for its use gave been questioned due to ethical issues
• could be argued that especially due to the vast amount of research into areas like Alzheimer’s it is an area that should be supported
• it should also be emphasised that the government regulatory bodies and other institutions in society should work alongside neuroscientist to ensure ethical and appropriate application
• advances through neuro should be offered between all within reason but it should not be offered for the sake of it
• law will be need o be consulted for things like enhancing neurological function and treating criminals to ensure it doesn’t impact rights
• i think that when moderated and properly looked after, the unethical side of neuroscience can be vastly reduced to enable benefits of its research to reach all people