ScholarlyCommons - Martha J. Farah, Judy Illes, Robert Cook-Deegan, Howard Gardner, Eric Kandel, Patricia King, Eric Parens, Barbara Sahakian, and Paul Root Wolpe: Neurocognitive Enhancement: what can we do and what should we do?

Neuroethics Publications

Title

Neurocognitive Enhancement: what can we do and what should we do?

Author(s)

Martha J. Farah, University of Pennsylvania
Judy Illes, Stanford University
Robert Cook-Deegan, Duke University
Howard Gardner, Harvard University
Eric Kandel, Columbia University
Patricia King, Georgetown University
Eric Parens, The Hastings Center
Barbara Sahakian, University of Cambridge
Paul Root Wolpe, University of Pennsylvania

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of this Version

May 2004

Comments

Postprint version. Published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2004, pages 421-425.
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/nrn1390

Abstract

Our growing ability to alter brain function can be used to enhance the mental processes of normal individuals as well as to treat mental dysfunction in people who are ill. The prospect of neurocognitive enhancement raises many issues about what is safe, fair and otherwise morally acceptable. This article resulted from a meeting on neurocognitive enhancement that was held by the authors. Our goal is to review the state of the art in neurocognitive enhancement, its attendant social and ethical problems, and the ways in which society can address these problems.