Intervening in the brain: with what benefit?
By Hannah Maslen, DPhil and Julian Savulescu, PhD Hannah Maslen is based at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford . Julian Savulescu is Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford and the Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics . He is also a member of the AJOB Neuroscience editorial board. Novel neurotechnologies Last week, Nuffield Council on Bioethics released its report entitled Novel neurotechnologies: intervening in the brain . The aim of the report is to provide a reflective assessment of the ethical and social issues raised by the development and use of new brain intervention technologies. The technologies that the report examines include transcranial brain stimulation, deep brain stimulation, brain-computer interfaces and neural stem cell therapies. Having constructed and defended an ethical framework to navigate the ethical and social concerns raised by novel neurotechnologies, ...