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It is with great pleasure that the Emory Neuroethics Program announces its inaugural neuroethics scholars!  The Neuroethics Program invited graduate students to create and to join collaborative, interdepartmental faculty teams at Emory and in the Atlanta community to pursue Neuroethics scholarship.  Graduate students were free to propose projects of interest to them. Proposals included innovative ideas in the arena of teaching, empirical research, new media, and beyond. By the completion of their one year appointments, each scholar is expected to co-author a paper and present his/her work.  The selection process was quite competitive. Abstracts of their proposed projects can be found below. Cyd Cipolla and Kristina Gupta (Innovative Neuroethics Teaching) Cyd Cippola and Kristina Gupta We both work in the field of feminist science studies, a field that has challenged the gender biases of scientific knowledge. In her dissertation research, Cyd examines the role of religious, psychiatric

Director of Emory's Center for Ethics talks about the ethics of designer brains on Big Think. "Our values as a society will determine which psychopharmaceuticals and (down the road) which genetic enhancement technologies we choose to develop and how we use them. That's what concerns Dr. Paul Root Wolpe, senior Bioethicist at NASA and a pioneer in the field of neuroethics. Peering into his children's and grandchildren's future, he sees an America that rewards competitiveness and productivity over relationship-building, and suspects that future generations will face intense pressure to enhance their minds and bodies in unhealthy ways. The politics of technophilia vs technophobia aside, our power to manipulate our brains and genes is increasing dramatically – and it raises serious ethical questions."

Jon Ciliberto artist and all around jack-of-all-trades documented our last Neuroethics Journal Club on Neurotechnologies and Lie Detection via painting/drawing.  Thanks, Jon! by Jon Ciliberto Our next Neuroethics Journal Club will be on December 14, 2011. We will be discussing the AJOB Neuroscience article, "Deflating the Neuroenhancement Bubble," and Emory Neuroscience Graduate student David Nicholson will facilitate this session.

Much virtual and actual ink has been spilled of late about the dangers of rushing to bring brain-imaging technologies into the courtroom.  Not only neuroskeptics, [1] but also preeminent neuroscientists, [2] have urged caution when it comes to the prospect of fMRI data being admitted as trial evidence.  And brain-based lie detection, as one of the most alluring areas of imaging research, has in particular come in for a great deal of hand-wringing. These portents of doom are perhaps even more premature than would be the use of fMRI “polygraphy” as evidence.  Worrying now about that prospect is a bit like throwing out the bathwater before the baby has even gotten into the tub.  While it’s true that a few ill-informed judges have made a few ill-conceived decisions along these lines (and those mostly in India, not the United States), the vast weight of judicial precedent, procedure, and practice makes it overwhelmingly likely that courts will move too slowly, rather than too fast, in ad

The Neuroethics Program made some new friends at the Society for Neuroscience meeting (SfN). Project Guerrilla Science presents, *ah hem*, research on necroneurology . From the office of: Bradley Voytek, Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco) & Timothy Verstynen , Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Research Associate University of Pittsburgh) ---- "HUMANS! ... We appreciate your interest in the zombie sciences. Necroneurology is the most exciting new thing to hit neuroscience since mirror neurons! We look forward to future possible collaborative opportunities. We encourage all scientists to take part in Project Guerrilla Science at next year's SfN. Be on the lookout for other, fun (maybe even non-zombie!?) research projects in the future. This has been surprisingly fun and successful (and has garnered us way more media attention than our actual research... ::sigh::). Please send any and all brains you may encounter--zom

Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University, Dr. Paul Root Wolpe puts his foot down on CNN's Belief Blog. Dr. Paul Root Wolpe, neuroethics expert "Throughout human history, the inner workings of our minds were impenetrable, known only to us and, perhaps, to God. No one could see what you were thinking, or know what you were feeling, unless you chose to reveal it to them." Read more about it by following the link below. My Take: Keep government out of mind-reading business

Greetings from DC!  The Neuroethics Program is busy hobnobbing with some of world's most cutting-edge, interdisciplinary group of innovative thinkers at the International Neuroethics Society (INS)! In case you didn't get the chance to attend this year, here is a brief summary of what you missed. The full list of events can be seen here and featured events from Day 1 of this year's meeting can be seen here . This year INS hosted its annual meeting at the Carnegie Institution for Science . Day 2 of the annual INS meeting was an exciting and inspiring day featuring outstanding sessions. Each session highlighted some of the most pressing topics in the field of neuroethics. The day opened with a panel on Neuroscience, National Security, and Society. The panel featured Jonathan Moreno , University of Pennsylania; William Casebeer , DARPA ; and James Giordano , Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Moreno is the author of the book Mind Wars . Moreno outlined the past, curre

Greetings from Washington DC! The Neuroethics Program is on the road attending the International Neuroethics Society Meeting and Society for Neuroscience. Have you been wondering how to begin your journey toward a career in neuroethics? The 2011 International Neuroethics Society (INS) Meeting featured a Neuroethics Careers Session.  INS meeting organizers, including Emory Neuroethics Program's Gillian Hue, put together a stellar panel of speakers including Alan Leshner, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science); Paul Root Wolpe, Emory University; Emily Murphy, Stanford and Hank Greely, Stanford. "You enter the field almost always obliquely," Paul Root Wolpe of Emory told the audience. "You get into bioethics through a story." To learn more about his story, a summary of this panel discussion can be found on the Dana Foundation's Blog .

We have put together a playlist of songs about neuroethics, the brain, and the mind. Below you will find a Prezi presentation that includes the music and brief descriptions of each of the songs. Neuroethics Playlist on Prezi ( Updated 4/15/2018 ) Special thanks to the followers on our Facebook page for their helpful suggestions.

"What drives our desire to behave morally? Neuroeconomist Paul Zak shows why he believes oxytocin (he calls it "the moral molecule") is responsible for trust, empathy and other feelings that help build a stable society." For more read our previous blog post "Liquid Trust and Artificial Love" here.