Advances in neuroscience have raised important ethical questions. The recent launch of two major brain projects, the US BRAIN initiative and the European Union Human Brain Project, should accelerate progress in understanding the brain. This article will look at neuroethics in these two projects, as well as its exploration by other efforts. The rapid accumulation of knowledge about the brain can raise profound questions about who we are, how we function, how these functions can be changed and what this might mean for society. Understanding how the human brain functions is likely to be uniquely steeped in ethical, legal and social implications. Even brain projects focusing on developing research tools and dealing primarily with non-human brains have laid the foundations for arguably revolutionary changes in our human world.
Neuroethics in the Age of Brain Projects (2016)
19 December 2022