A lecture by Laurence Steinberg, PhD In the past decade, the United States Supreme Court has issued landmark opinions in three cases that involved the criminal culpability of juveniles. In 2005, the Court abolished the juvenile death penalty. In 2010, the Court banned life without parole for juveniles convicted of crimes other than homicide. And…
Description This conference was an afternoon of reflection on the life, work, and enduring influence of Professor Alan Wertheimer (1942-2015). Professor Wertheimer was a leading philosopher of law and bioethics, making critical contributions to clinical research ethics; theories of coercion, undue influence, and exploitation; consent in a variety of contexts, and much more. This tribute…
In September 2015, Columbia University Press published FDA in the Twenty-First Century: The Challenges of Regulating Drugs and New Technologies, co-edited by Petrie-Flom Center Executive Director Holly Fernandez Lynch and Faculty Director I. Glenn Cohen. This edited volume stems from the Center’s 2013 annual conference, which brought together leading experts from academia, government, and private…
The Ethics of Cognitive Enhancement in Gaming and Competition Event Description This event was free and open to the public. Personal enhancement isn’t new (think hard work and caffeine), but our ability to directly improve performance using drugs and devices is rapidly improving. In turn, this raises concerns about fairness, justice, safety and regulation. Some…
A Lecture by Julian Savulescu Description Increasingly, knowledge from biology and neuroscience allows us to identify biological states that are predictive but not determinative of human behavior in certain situations. These are called biomarkers of behavior. Looking at MAOA, a gene variant linked to increased criminal behavior in those who were maltreated as children, Professor…
Science, Policy, and Ethics Description Synthetic biology, “which aims to apply standardized engineering techniques to biology and thereby create organisms or biological systems with novel or specialized functions to address countless needs,”* offers the potential for tremendous benefit, alongside a range of possible risks. How should these benefits and risks be balanced, from a scientific,…
The Promise and Perils of Brain Imaging in Disorders of Consciousness Event Description Modern neuroimaging technology such as functional MRI can now sometimes detect conscious awareness in patients who otherwise appear unconscious. Such a finding may or may not have major implications for how we treat patients with disordered consciousness (e.g. coma, the vegetative state,…
Promises and Perils of Adolescent Neuroscience and Law Read the Harvard Crimson‘s summary of the event! Description The neuroscience of adolescent brain development has had increasing impact on American jurisprudence. The U.S. Supreme Court relied on this neuroscience in Roper v. Simmons (2005) in barring execution for capital crimes committed as a juvenile and in…
A Neuroethics Seminar Series Event All modern surgical techniques were once new, so the ethics of surgical innovation is not a new topic. But as our understanding of the brain advances, so does our ability to surgically treat disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and possibly even depression. Increasingly, we must consider whether innovation in…
How Neuroimaging Helps Law Re-envision Pain Description Can brain imaging be a “pain-o-meter” that tells courts when a person is in pain? Can fMRI help us discern whether intractable chronic pain is “all in your head” or all in the brain – or will it require us to reconsider that distinction? Leading neuroscientists, legal scholars,…
