Ethical consideration in medical research is nothing new. So why should neuroethics - governing research into the brain - have any special consideration?
From http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/science/060727rf
Ethics has always played a part in medical research - scientists have, by and large, worked within their society's framework of good and bad.
The word "Neuroethics" is a recently coined one and refers to a subset of ethics loking at the good and bad consequences of medical practice and scientific research into the brain.
Professor Colin Blakemore, whom I'm interviewing in the blistering Munich heat, isn't even sure that the brain deserves its own separate ethical term. It does, however, deserve special consideration:
"The brain is the organ that controls our personality and our sense of self, our consciousness. The ultimate argument is that the brain is the thing through which we are able to conceive of issues like ethics. It is the seat of individuality, and many of the issues of neuroscience look at the extent to which it is ok to tinker around with brain functions."
And Professor Blakemore has a good point. Beyond our looks, the things that
mark us out as individuals - our personality and behaviour - are set by our
brain function. One kidney is pretty much the same as another and you can
lose one without worrying about it changing your identity. But if something
is done that interferes with your brain, it can change you in such a way that
neither you or anyone else consider you to be the same person. So neuroscience
has the ability to change people's lives in a powerful and personal way.
Although this sound may like fussing for the future, for the days when brain transplants are possible, there are plenty of dilemmas ready and ripe for a good long debate. Professor Blakemore gives me an example:
"An example would be the extent to which we should accept or encourage
drugs which modify brain function. Not because you are ill, but because you
want to feel differently or behave differently."
If a drug improves your memory or erases traumatic memories, should scientists
develop them? And should doctors use them? There is a drug currently available
to individuals with a host of illnesses, from Alzheimer's to abnormal sleeping
patterns, called Modafanil. It also has interesting
effects on healthy humans; in trials it has been found to keep helicopter
pilots awake for 88 hours with only eight hours sleep, without interfering
with their ability to work. So should it be allowed to become the new caffeine
or is this 'Botox for the brain' the beginning of a slippery, sinister slope?