New technologies that allow us to investigate mechanisms and functions of the brain have shown considerable promise in treating brain disease and injury. These emerging technologies also provide a means to assess and manipulate human consciousness, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors, bringing with them the potential to transform society. Neurotechnology: Premises, Potential, and Problems explores the technical, moral, legal, and sociopolitical issues that arise in and from today’s applications of neuroscience and technology and discusses their implications for the future. Some of the issues raised in this thought-provoking volume include: Neurotechnology in education: an enablement, a treatment, or an enhancement? The potential and limitations of neuroimaging technology in determining patient prognoses Tissue implantation technology as a way of engendering personalized medicine Neuroprostheses: restoration of functions of the disabled vs. enhancement to transhuman capabilities Deep brain stimulation and its use in restoring, preserving, or changing patients’ personal identity The benefit and risk of cognitive performance tools Cyborg technology and its potential to change our vision of humanity Methodologies for reducing the risk of neurotechnology’s impact on ethical, legal, and social issues With contributions from an international group of experts working on the cutting edge of neurotechnology, this volume lays the groundwork to appreciate the ethical, legal, and social aspects of the science in ways that keep pace with this rapidly progressing field.

Neurotechnology in National Security and Defense: Practical Considerations, Neuroethical Concerns is the second volume in the Advances in Neurotechnology series. It specifically addresses the neuroethical, legal, and social issues arising from the use of neurotechnology in national security and defense agendas and applications. Of particular concern are the use of various neurotechnologies in military and intelligence operations training, acquisition of neurobiological and cognitive data for intelligence and security, military medical operations, warfighter performance augmentation, and weaponization of neuroscience and neurotechnology. The contributors discuss the neuroethical questions and problems that these applications generate as well as potential solutions that may be required and developed. The book examines how developments in neurotechnology in national security and defense agendas are impacted by and affect ethical values and constructs, legal considerations, and overall conduct of the social sphere. Presenting an integrative perspective, leading international experts lay the scientific groundwork and establish the premises necessary to appreciate the ethical aspects of neurotechnology in national security and defense. It is not a question of "if" neurotechnology will be used in such ways, but when, how, and to what extent. Therefore, it is imperative to foster a deeper understanding of neurotechnology, the problems and debates arising from its use in national security and defense, and how such issues can and should be addressed. In doing so, we can guide and govern the use of these innovative neurotechnologies in ways that uphold ethical accountability.

Engineers and ethicists participated in a workshop to discuss the responsible development of new technologies. Presenters examined four areas of engineering-sustainability, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, and energy-in terms of the ethical issues they present to engineers in particular and society as a whole. Approaches to ethical issues include: analyzing the factual, conceptual, application, and moral aspects of an issue; evaluating the risks and responsibilities of a particular course of action; and using theories of ethics or codes of ethics developed by engineering societies as a basis for decision making. Ethics can be built into the education of engineering students and professionals, either as an aspect of courses already being taught or as a component of engineering projects to be examined along with research findings. Engineering practice workshops can also be effective, particularly when they include discussions with experienced engineers. This volume includes papers on all of these topics by experts in many fields. The consensus among workshop participants is that material on ethics should be an ongoing part of engineering education and engineering practice.

Neurotechnologies such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which allow technical devices to be used with the power of thought or concentration alone, are no longer a futuristic dream or, depending on the viewpoint, a nightmare. Moreover, the combination of neurotechnologies and AI raises a host of pressing problems. Now that these technologies are about to leave the laboratory and enter the real world, these problems and implications can and should be scrutinized. This volume brings together scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines such as philosophy, law, the social sciences and neurosciences, and is unique in terms of both its focus and its methods. The latter vary considerably, and range from philosophical analysis and phenomenologically inspired descriptions to legal analysis and socio-empirical research. This diversified approach allows the book to explore the entire spectrum of philosophical, normative, legal and empirical dimensions of intelligent neurotechnologies. Philosophical and legal analyses of normative problems are complemented by a thorough empirical assessment of how BCIs and other forms of neurotechnology are being implemented, and what their measurable implications are. To take a closer look at specific neurotechnologies, a number of applications are addressed. Case studies, previously unidentified issues, and normative insights on these cases complement the rich portrait this volume provides. Clinicians, philosophers, lawyers, social scientists and engineers will greatly benefit from the collection of articles compiled in this book, which will likely become a standard reference work on the philosophy of intelligent neurotechnologies.

The past two decades have seen unparalleled developments in our knowledge of the brain and mind. However, these advances have forced us to confront head-on some significant ethical issues regarding our application of this information in the real world- whether using brain images to establish guilt within a court of law, or developing drugs to enhance cognition. Historically, any consideration of the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies in science and medicine has lagged behind the discovery of the technology itself. These delays have caused problems in the acceptability and potential applications of biomedical advances and posed significant problems for the scientific community and the public alike - for example in the case of genetic screening and human cloning. The field of Neuroethics aims to proactively anticipate ethical, legal and social issues at the intersection of neuroscience and ethics, raising questions about what the brain tells us about ourselves, whether the information is what people want or ought to know, and how best to communicate it. A landmark in the academic literature, the Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics presents a pioneering review of a topic central to the sciences and humanities. It presents a range of chapters considering key issues, discussion, and debate at the intersection of brain and ethics. The handbook contains more than 50 chapters by leaders from around the world and a broad range of sectors of academia and clinical practice spanning the neurosciences, medical sciences and humanities and law. The book focuses on and provides a platform for dialogue of what neuroscience can do, what we might expect neuroscience will do, and what neuroscience ought to do. The major themes include: consciousness and intention; responsibility and determinism; mind and body; neurotechnology; ageing and dementia; law and public policy; and science, society and international perspectives. Tackling some of the most significant ethical issues that face us now and will continue to do so over the coming decades, The Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics will be an essential resource for the field of neuroethics for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, basic scientists in the neurosciences and psychology, scholars in humanities and law, as well as physicians practising in the areas of primary care in neurological medicine.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of philosophical, social, ethical, and legal challenges arising as a consequences of current advances in neurosciences and neurotechnology. It starts by offering an overview of fundamental concepts such as mental privacy, personal autonomy, mental integrity, and responsibility, among others. In turn, it discusses the influence of possible misuses or uncontrolled uses of neurotechnology on those concepts, and, more in general, on human rights and equality. Then, it makes some original proposals to deal with the main ethical, legal, and social problems associated to the use of neurotechnology, both in medicine and in everyday life, suggesting possible policies to protect privacy, neural data, and intimacy. Crossing the borders between humanities, natural sciences, bio-medicine, and engineering, and taking into account geographical and cultural differences, this book offers a conceptual debate around policy and decision making concerning some of the key neuroethical challenges of our times. It offers a comprehensive guide to the most important issues of neurojustice and neuroprotection, together with a set of new paradigms to face some of the most urgent neuroethical problems of our times.