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Neurodiversity is a term that was coined by Australian social scientist and autism advocate Judy Singer. In her 1998 thesis, she wrote: “For me, the key significance of the ‘Autistic Spectrum’ lies in its call for and anticipation of a politics of Neurological Diversity, or what I want to call ‘Neurodiversity.’ The ‘Neurologically Different’ represent a new addition to the familiar political categories of class/gender/race and will augment the insights of the social model of disability.”[1] Similar to the way biodiversity is discussed as critical to the stability of the ecosystem, neurodiversity is considered to be critical for human and cultural stability. In other words, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other neurological differences should be a part of our community and, thus, neither cured nor subject to intense rehabilitative or normalizing efforts. Before I discuss how neurodiversity is useful to my work and to ASD-related professions, I want to quickly review ASD and my curre...

The Neuroethics Scholar Program By Jennifer C. Sarrett This project is done through The Neuroethics Scholar Program As defined in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed in individuals who show differences in social communication—such as a reliance on non-verbal communication techniques or difficulties interpreting social signals—and specific behavioral patterns—such as repetitive vocal or motor behaviors or intense interests in specific items. These characteristics must be evident before the age of 3 in order to quality for an ASD diagnosis 1 . While there are diagnostic tools that are able to reliably diagnose ASD by the age of 2, most reports show that, on average, children are not diagnosed until school age. These rates vary by several factors, including race and urbanicity 2 . For many professionals, this delay in diagnosis is concerning because, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 3 and m...

It is with great pleasure that the Emory Neuroethics Program announces its newest neuroethics scholar : Riley Zeller-Townson! 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 or her work.  The selection process was quite competitive. The abstract of Riley’s proposed project and a short bio can be found below. Riley Zeller-Townson (Neuroethics and Art) Riley Zeller-Townson For my Neuroethics Scholars Program Fellowship, I will be studying, as well as participating in, the interaction between Neuroethics and Art.  This includes documenting and ana...

I attended the excellent Neuroscience, Law, and Ethics of Lie Detection Technologies Symposium  in May, and as a consequence, I have spent the last month trying to answer questions I hadn’t even thought to ask before: Who owns the thoughts in my head? Could I be compelled to submit them? Can someone else decide that keeping my ideas to myself is a violation of the law or a threat to my country? If they force me to surrender them, do I lose ownership? So this week, I thought I would share some of the things I learned as I tried to find out answers. You can actually  buy this online . I am considering getting it printed on a hat. Two preliminary points: first, I want specify what I mean when I say “compelled” to undergo a brain scan. It seems, at least it seemed to me while sitting in the audience, that Americans are pretty afraid of having someone else read their minds without their permission, or, worse, being forced to have their minds read. This extends even to a si...

As the semester drew to an end, and Kristina Gupta and I closed out our course on Feminism, Sexuality, and Neuroethics , I have been thinking a lot about the science of sexual identity. Participants in our class set out to consider the ethics of separating human beings into distinct kinds and conducting neuroscientific research into those separations. Along the way, we all thought about what the boundaries of sexuality and gender were, how they are culturally bound, how desire is measured (and mismeasured), both in the contemporary era and throughout history. We considered the use of these differences to create legislation and the effects of both medicalization and pathologization for members of sexual minorities. I'm sure this is exactly what happens. (Original image from hyperboleandahalf.com) On the last day of class, we asked our students to take into consideration all the discussions we had had over the course of the semester and reflect on their own opinions about the scienti...

Are you interested in the ethical and social implications of neuroscience?  The Neuroethics Program is offering competitive, stipended fellowships in neuroethics. This exciting opportunity is open to graduate students in any discipline. Important Dates: Information Session: 5/30/2012 Center for Ethics Room 150 @ 130pm Deadline for Applications: 6/15/2012  Duration of Fellowship: 8/30/2012-8/30/2013

As Neuroethics Scholars Program Fellows, Cyd Cipolla and I designed an interactive discussion-based undergraduate course “ Feminism, Sexuality, and Neuroethics ,” which we are currently teaching this semester at Emory. In developing our course, we decided to devote one week to examining neuroscientific research on “sex addiction.” In recent years, neuroscientists have started to use imaging technology to explore the neurobiology of “out of control” sexual behavior (sometimes called sex addiction). In addition, some researchers and mental health professionals have argued that the neurobiology of sex addiction is the same as the neurobiology of drug addiction. However, a number of scholars have critiqued the category of sex addiction, arguing that it is a reflection of our cultural anxieties about high rates of sexual activity ( Irvine 1995 , Moser 2001 ). After our in-class discussions, I was still left wondering whether it is appropriate to view “excessive” sexual interest as an addict...