In the past year "neuroethics" has begun to command the attention of neuroscientists, ethicists and journalists. Ethical questions associated with new knowledge of the human brain have received extensive coverage in the popular press with cover stories in The Economist and The New Scientist. There has also been a burst of discussion in the scientific literature (Farah, 2002; Wolpe, 2003), and a number of professional conferences have recently focused attention on the field. The current capability of neuroscience to monitor and alter brain function has profound ethical implications, which scientists and the public have only begun to examine.