Ethics and Ontology in Deep Brain Stimulation
Rapid advancements in the fields of neurology and neuroscience over the past decade have enabled unprecedented progress toward the development of brain-modulating technologies and therapeutics. Central to these advancements are cross-disciplinary translational research efforts to engineer systems that can reliably deliver electrical, ultrasound, or magnetic impulses to specific deep cortical areas and neural circuits, with the ultimate goal of influencing abnormal patterns of neural activity implicated in disorders of the brain and nervous system (Famm et al. 2013). As knowledge of the brain's dynamic synaptic networks and microcircuitry expands, it is anticipated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) technologies will begin to target neural activity with increasingly greater precision and functional efficiency (Warner-Schmidt 2013). While research in these domains carries tremendous promise for treating many neurologic and psychiatric conditions that have long been considered refractory to traditional treatments (Lozano and Lipsman2013; Nestler 2013; Warner-Schmidt 2013), they introduce a complex array of ethical, social, and legal questions. [...]
Read the Full Article
Tags
bioethics biotechnology health law policy mental health neuroscience