Neuroethics Publications

State-of-Science Review: SR-E29, Brain-Computer Interfaces and Cognitive Neural Prostheses

Kenneth R. Foster — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:01:32 PDT

This review looks at recently developed technology that allows engineers to record signals from the brain, identify the subject’s intent, and allow the subject to control prosthetic devices or communicate with others. It explores the current status of the technology, focusing on studies aimed at developing assistive devices for human subjects. Lastly, it reviews the impressive accomplishments to date, as well as limitations of the technology that will need to be overcome to enable the development of fully practical assistive technologies.

Review of Robert Whitaker, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America

Martha J. Farah — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:36:10 PDT

Patient Registries in Cognitive Neuroscience Research: Advantages, Challenges, and Practical Advice

Lesley K. Fellows et al. — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:45:45 PDT

Neuropsychological work is the historical foundation of cognitive neuroscience and continues to be an important method in the study of the neural basis of human behavior, complementing newer techniques for investigating brain structure–function relationships in human subjects. Recent advances in neuroimaging, statistics and information management provide powerful tools to support neuropsychological research. At the same time, changing ethical requirements and privacy concerns impose increasingly high standards on the procedures used to recruit research participants, and on subsequent data management. Shared, centrally managed research registries provide a framework for facilitating access to this method for nonclinicians, addressing ethical concerns, streamlining recruitment and screening procedures, and coordinating subsequent research contacts and data storage. We report the experience of two such registries: the patient database of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Registry at McGill University. &

The Functional Neuroanatomy of Thematic Role and Locative Relational Knowledge

Denise H. Wu et al. — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:45:43 PDT

Lexical–semantic investigations in cognitive neuroscience have focused on conceptual knowledge of concrete objects. By contrast, relational concepts have been largely ignored. We examined thematic role and locative knowledge in 14 lefthemisphere- damage patients. Relational concepts shift cognitive focus away from the object to the relationship between objects, calling into question the relevance of traditional sensory– functional accounts of semantics. If extraction of a relational structure is the critical cognitive process common to both thematic and locative knowledge, then damage to neural structures involved in such an extraction would impair both kinds of knowledge. If the nature of the relationship itself is critical, then functional neuroanatomical dissociations should occur. Using a new lesion analysis method, we found that damage to the lateral temporal cortex produced deficits in thematic role knowledge and damage to inferior fronto-parietal regions produced deficits in locative knowledge. In addition, we found that conceptual knowledge of thematic roles dissociates from its mapping onto language. These relational knowledge deficits were not accounted for by deficits in processing nouns or verbs or by a general deficit in making inferences. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that manners of visual motion serve as a point of entry for thematic role knowledge and networks dedicated to eye gaze, whereas reaching and grasping serve as a point of entry for locative knowledge. Intermediary convergence zones that are topographically guided by these sensory–motor points of entry play a critical role in the semantics of relational concepts.

Neural Activity within Area V1 Reflects Unconscious Visual Performance in a Case of Blindsight

Petya D. Radoeva et al. — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:45:41 PDT

Although lesions of the striate (V1) cortex disrupt conscious vision, patients can demonstrate surprising residual abilities within their affected visual field, a phenomenon termed blindsight. The relative contribution of spared ‘‘islands’’ of functioning striate cortex to residual vision, versus subcortical pathways to extrastriate areas, has implications for the role of early visual areas in visual awareness and performance. Here we describe the behavioral and neural features of residual cortical function in Patient M.C., who sustained a posterior cerebral artery stroke at the age of 15 years. Within her impaired visual field, we found preserved visual abilities characteristic of blindsight, including superior detection of motion, and above-chance discrimination of shape, color, and motion direction. Functional magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a retinotopically organized representation of M.C.’s blind visual field within the lesioned occipital lobe, specifically within area V1. The incongruity of a well-organized cortex and M.C.’s markedly impaired vision was resolved by measurement of functional responses within her damaged occipital lobe. Attenuated neural contrast-response functions were found to correlate with M.C.’s impaired psychophysical performance. These results demonstrate that the behavioral features of blindsight may arise in the presence of residual striate responses that are spatially organized and sensitive to contrast variation.

Early parental care is important for hippocampal maturation: Evidence from brain morphology in humans

Hengyi Rao et al. — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:42:40 PDT

The effects of early life experience on later brain structure and function have been studied extensively in animals, yet the relationship between childhood experience and normal brain development in humans remains largely unknown. Using a unique longitudinal data set including ecologically valid in-home measures of early experience during childhood (at age 4 and 8 years) and high-resolution structural brain imaging during adolescence (mean age 14 years), we examined the effects on later brain morphology of two dimensions of early experience: parental nurturance and environmental stimulation. Parental nurturance at age 4 predicts the volume of the left hippocampus in adolescence, with better nurturance associated with smaller hippocampal volume. In contrast, environmental stimulation did not correlate with hippocampal volume. Moreover, the association between hippocampal volume and parental nurturance disappears at age 8, supporting the existence of a sensitive developmental period for brain maturation. These findings indicate that variation in normal childhood experience is associated with differences in brain morphology, and hippocampal volume is specifically associated with early parental nurturance. Our results provide neuroimaging evidence supporting the important role of warm parental care during early childhood for brain maturation.

Socioeconomic status and the brain: mechanistic insights from human and animal research

Daniel A. Hackman et al. — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:42:35 PDT

Human brain development occurs within a socioeconomic context and childhood socioeconomic status (SES) influences neural development — particularly of the systems that subserve language and executive function. Research in humans and in animal models has implicated prenatal factors, parent–child interactions and cognitive stimulation in the home environment in the effects of SES on neural development. These findings provide a unique opportunity for understanding how environmental factors can lead to individual differences in brain development, and for improving the programmes and policies that are designed to alleviate SES-related disparities in mental health and academic achievement.

Morality: My brain made me do it

Martha J. Farah — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:42:22 PDT

Mind, Brain, and Education in Socioeconomic Context

Martha J. Farah — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:42:20 PDT

That Little Matter of Consciousness

Martha J. Farah — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:42:18 PDT

Brain Imaging and Brain Privacy: A Realistic Concern?

Martha J. Farah et al. — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:42:16 PDT

Functional neuroimaging has been used to study a wide array of psychological traits, including aspects of personality and intelligence. Progress in identifying the neural correlates of individual differences in such traits, for the sake of basic science, has moved us closer to the applied science goal of measuring them and thereby raised ethical concerns about privacy. How realistic are such concerns given the current state of the art? In this article, we describe the statistical basis of the measurement of psychological traits using functional neuroimaging and examine the degree to which current functional neuroimaging protocols could be used for this purpose. By analyzing the published data from 16 studies, we demonstrate that the use of imaging to gather information about an individual’s psychological traits is already possible, but to an extremely limited extent.

Neuroethics, An Introduction with Readings

Martha J. Farah — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:42:13 PDT

Cosmetic Neurology and Cosmetic Surgery: Parallels, Predictions, and Challenges

Anjan Chatterjee — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:54:02 PDT

As our knowledge of the functional and pharmacological architecture of the nervous system increases, we are getting better at treating cognitive and affective disorders. Along with the ability to modify cognitive and affective systems in disease, we are also learning how to modify these systems in health. “Cosmetic neurology,” the practice of intervening to improve cognition and affect in healthy individuals, raises several ethical concerns.1 However, its advent seems inevitable.2 In this paper I examine this claim of inevitability by reviewing the evolution of another medical practice, cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery also enhances healthy people and, despite many critics, it is practiced widely. Can we expect the same of cosmetic neurology? The claim of inevitability poses a challenge for both physicians and bioethicists. How will physicians reconsider their professional role? Will bioethicists influence the shape of cosmetic neurology? But first, how did cosmetic surgery become common?

Encoding Social Interactions: The Neural Correlates of True and False Memories

Benjamin Straube et al. — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:53:58 PDT

In social situations, we encounter information transferred in firsthand (egocentric) and secondhand (allocentric) communication contexts.However, the mechanismbywhich an individual distinguishes whether a past interaction occurred in an egocentric versus allocentric situation is poorly understood. This study examined the neural bases for encoding memories of social interactions through experimentally manipulating the communication context. During fMRI data acquisition, participants watched video clips of an actor speaking and gesturing directly toward them (egocentric context) or toward an unseen third person (allocentric context). After scanning, a recognition task gauged participantsʼ ability to recognize the sentences they had just seen and to recall the context in which the sentences had been spoken. We found no differences between the recognition of sentences spoken in egocentric and allocentric contexts. However, when asked about the communication context (“Had the actor directly spoken to you?”), participants tended to believe falsely that the actor had directly spoken to them during allocentric conditions. Greater activity in the hippocampus was related to correct context memory, whereas the ventral ACC was activated for subsequent inaccurate context memory. For the interaction between encoding context and context memory, we observed increased activation for egocentric remembered items in the bilateral and medial frontal cortex, the BG, and the left parietal and temporal lobe. Our data indicate that memories of social interactions are biased to be remembered egocentrically. Selfreferential encoding processes reflected in increased frontal activation and decreased hippocampal activation might be the basis of correct item but false context memory of social interactions.

The Perceived Objectivity of Ethical Beliefs: Psychological Findings and Implications for Public Policy

Geoffrey P. Goodwin et al. — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:25:47 PDT

Ethical disputes arise over differences in the content of the ethical beliefs people hold on either side of an issue. One person may believe that it is wrong to have an abortion for financial reasons, whereas another may believe it to be permissible. But, the magnitude and difficulty of such disputes may also depend on other properties of the ethical beliefs in question-in particular, how objective they are perceived to be. As a psychological property of moral belief, objectivity is relatively unexplored, and we argue that it merits more attention. We review recent psychological evidence which demonstrates that individuals differ in the extent to which they perceive ethical beliefs to be objective, that some ethical beliefs are perceived to be more objective than others, and that both these sources of variance are somewhat systematic. This evidence also shows that differences in perceptions of objectivity underpin quite different psychological reactions to ethical disagreement. Apart from reviewing this evidence, our aim in this paper is to draw attention to unanswered psychological questions about moral objectivity, and to discuss the relevance of moral objectivity to two issues of public policy.

Neuroaesthetics: A coming of Age Story

Anjan Chatterjee — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:56:47 PST

Neuroaesthetics is gaining momentum. At this early juncture, it is worth taking stock of where the field is and what lies ahead. Here, I review writings that fall under the rubric of neuroaesthetics. These writings include discussions of the parallel organizational principles of the brain and the intent and practices of artists, the description of informative anecdotes, and the emergence of experimental neuroaesthetics. I then suggest a few areas within neuroaesthetics that might be pursued profitably. Finally, I raise some challenges for the field. These challenges are not unique to neuroaesthetics. As neuroaesthetics comes of age, it might take advantage of the lessons learned from more mature domains of inquiry within cognitive neuroscience.

Memory Effects of Speech and Gesture Binding: Cortical and Hippocampal Activation in Relation to Subsequent Memory Performance

Benjamin Straube et al. — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:56:39 PST

In human face-to-face communication, the content of speech is often illustrated by coverbal gestures. Behavioral evidence suggests that gestures provide advantages in the comprehension and memory of speech. Yet, how the human brain integrates abstract auditory and visual information into a common representation is not known. Our study investigates the neural basis of memory for bimodal speech and gesture representations. In this fMRI study, 12 participants were presented with video clips showing an actor performing meaningful metaphoric gestures (MG), unrelated, free gestures (FG), and no arm and hand movements (NG) accompanying sentences with an abstract content. After the fMRI session, the participants performed a recognition task. Behaviorally, the participants showed the highest hit rate for sentences accompanied by meaningful metaphoric gestures. Despite comparable old/new discrimination performances (d') for the three conditions, we obtained distinct memory-related left-hemispheric activations in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the premotor cortex (BA 6), and the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), as well as significant correlations between hippocampal activation and memory performance in the metaphoric gesture condition. In contrast, unrelated speech and gesture information (FG) was processed in areas of the left occipito-temporal and cerebellar region and the right IFG just like the no-gesture condition (NG). We propose that the specific left-lateralized activation pattern for the metaphoric speech–gesture sentences reflects semantic integration of speech and gestures. These results provide novel evidence about the neural integration of abstract speech and gestures as it contributes to subsequent memory performance.

The Neural Correlates of Moral Decision-Making in Psychopathy

Andrea L. Glenn et al. — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:50:58 PDT

Measuring Decision-Making Capacity in Cognitively Impaired Individuals

Jason Karlawish — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:46:23 PDT

Cognitive and functional losses are only part of the spectrum of disability experienced by persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. They also experience losses in the ability to make decisions, known as decision-making capacity. Researchers have made substantial progress in developing a model of capacity assessment that rests upon the concept of the 4 decision-making abilities: understanding, appreciation, choice and reasoning. Empirical research has increased our understanding of the effects of late-life cognitive impairment on a person's ability to make decisions. This review examines studies of the capacity to consent to treatment, research and the management of everyday functional abilities. The results illustrate the clinical phenotype of the patient who retains the capacity to consent. They also suggest that measures of capacity can improve how researchers measure the benefits of cognitive enhancements and stage dementia.

Reduced prefrontal and temporal processing and recall of high "sensation value" ads

Daniel D. Langleben et al. — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:46:22 PDT

Public service announcements (PSAs) are non-commercial broadcast ads that are an important part of televised public health campaigns. “Message sensation value” (MSV), a measure of sensory intensity of audio, visual, and content features of an ad, is an important factor in PSA impact. Some communication theories propose that higher message sensation value brings increased attention and cognitive processing, leading to higher ad impact. Others argue that the attention-intensive format could compete with ad's message for cognitive resources and result in reduced processing of PSA content and reduced overall effectiveness. Brain imaging during PSA viewing provides a quantitative surrogate measure of PSA impact and addresses questions of PSA evaluation and design not accessible with traditional subjective and epidemiological methods. We used Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and recognition memory measures to compare high and low MSV anti-tobacco PSAs and neutral videos. In a short-delay, forced-choice memory test, frames extracted from PSAs were recognized more accurately than frames extracted from the NV. Frames from the low MSV PSAs were better recognized than frames from the high MSV PSAs. The accuracy of recognition of PSA frames was positively correlated with the prefrontal and temporal, and negatively correlated with the occipital cortex activation. The low MSV PSAs were associated with greater prefrontal and temporal activation, than the high MSV PSAs. The high MSV PSAs produced greater activation primarily in the occipital cortex. These findings support the “dual processing” and “limited capacity” theories of communication that postulate a competition between ad's content and format for the viewers' cognitive resources and suggest that the “attention-grabbing” high MSV format could impede the learning and retention of an ad. These findings demonstrate the potential of using neuroimaging in the design and evaluation of mass media public health communications.