Recent advances in the brain sciences have dramatically improved our understanding of brain function. As we find out more and more about what makes us tick, we must stop and consider the ethical implications of this new found knowledge. Will having a new biology of the brain through imaging make us less responsible for our behavior and lose our free will? Should certain brain scan studies be disallowed on the basis of moral grounds? Why is the media so interested in reporting results of brain imaging studies? What ethical lessons from the past can best inform the future of brain imaging?

These compelling questions and many more are tackled by a distinguished group of contributors to this, the first-ever volume on neuroethics. The wide range of disciplinary backgrounds that the authors represent, from neuroscience, bioethics and philosophy, to law, social and health care policy, education, religion and film, allow for profoundly insightful and provocative answers to these questions, and open up the door to a host of new ones. The contributions highlight the timeliness of modern neuroethics today, and assure the longevity and importance of neuroethics for generations to come.

Table of Contents

Part I Neuroscience, ethics, agency, and the self

1 Moral decision-making and the brain

Patricia Smith Churchland

2 A case study in neuroethics: the nature of moral judgment

Adina Roskies

3 Moral and legal responsibility and the new neuroscience

Stephen J. Morse

4 Brains, lies, and psychological explanations

Thomas Buller

5 Being in the world: neuroscience and the ethical agent

Laurie Zoloth

6 Creativity, gratitude, and the enhancement debate

Erik Parens

7 Ethical dilemmas in neurodegenerative disease: respecting

patients at the twilight of agency

Agnieszka Jaworska

Part II Neuroethics in practice

8 From genome to brainome: charting the lessons learned

Ronald M. Green

9 Protecting human subjects in brain research: a pragmatic perspective

Franklin G. Miller and Joseph J. Fins

10 Facts, fictions, and the future of neuroethics

Michael S. Gazzaniga

11 A picture is worth 1000 words, but which 1000?

Judy Illes, Eric Racine, and Matthew P. Kirschen

12 When genes and brains unite: ethical implications of genomic

neuroimaging

Turhan Canli

13 Engineering the brain

Kenneth R. Foster

14 Transcranial magnetic stimulation and the human brain:

an ethical evaluation

Megan S. Steven and Alvaro Pascual-Leone

15 Functional neurosurgical intervention: neuroethics in

the operating room

Paul J. Ford and Jaimie M. Henderson

16 Clinicians, patients, and the brain

Robert Klitzman

Part III Justice, social institutions, and neuroethics

17 The social effects of advances in neuroscience: legal problems,

legal perspectives

Henry T. Greely

18 Neuroethics in education

Kimberly Sheridan, Elena Zinchenko, and Howard Gardner

19 Poverty, privilege, and brain development: empirical findings

and ethical implications

Martha J. Farah, Kimberly G. Noble, and Hallam Hurt

20 Religious responses to neuroscientific questions

Paul Root Wolpe

21 The mind in the movies: a neuroethical analysis of the portrayal

of the mind in popular media

Maren Grainger-Monsen and Kim Karetsky

Review

"All the papers are lucid and thoughtful contributions, and the book deserves to stand as the state of the art in the field for some time to come. It will certainly be an invaluable textbook for anyone teaching this material...I recommend it very highly."--Lancet Neurology

About the Author

Judy Illes is at Senior Research Scholar and Director, Program for Neuroethics, Center for Biomedical Ethics; Senior Research Scholar, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, California, USA.