Search results for "Neuroenhancement"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Bioethics and neuroethics
2019
Neuroethics officially appeared at the start of the 21st century due to the progress made by the neurosciences, as an applied ethics related to bioethics, but also as an independent discipline in its own right. As an applied ethics, it tackles issues bordering on bioethics. As independent neuroethics, it deals with established philosophical problems from a neuroscientific standpoint in the broader sense. It involves two central questions: the design of a framework in which to select, interpret and integrate data from neuroscience on morality and outlining the appropriate method or methods for this new branch of knowledge. In both cases, most neuroethicists curiously claim to take a naturali…
Neuroenhancement Bubble?—Neuroenhancement Wave!
2011
Pharmacological Neuroenhancement: Substances and Epidemiology
2013
Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) refers to the general use of psychoactive substances with the purpose of cognitive enhancement (e.g. enhancement of vigilance, concentration, memory or mood) by healthy subjects. Substances for PN include Over-the-Counter- (OTC-) substances such as coffee, caffeinated drinks/energy drinks, caffeine tablets and Ginkgo biloba as well as prescription drugs and illicit drugs (e.g. (psycho-) stimulants). “Brain doping” refers to the illicit use of a subcategory of these substances. On the one hand, this subcategory includes prescription drugs for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sleep disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and depres…
On the current neuroenhancement use of transcranial direct current stimulation by healthy individuals—A non-fictional snap-shot: Commentary on Lapent…
2014
This commentary examines the pros and cons of the fictitious enhancement scenarios used in Lapenta et al. 2014. Then it gives a non-fictional impression of the current self-enhancement use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) by healthy individuals and discusses the ethical issues involved.
Speculation and Justification in Policy-Making on Neuroenhancement
2013
Neuroscientific findings allow interventions in the human brain to improve its function or modify mental states even without medical indication. This procedure, termed as neuroenhancement, is subject to a broad ethical debate. As neuroenhancement is an evolving phenomenon, the debate is necessarily future-oriented and highly dependent on information about future developments. It remains an open question to what degree uncertain forecasting or even speculation should be considered in the ethical debate and policy-making. I propose to distinguish between arguments with three different purposes: intuition-forming, self-reflecting and justifying arguments. Adequate standards are required for al…
Use of Caffeine for Cognitive Enhancement
2015
Abstract Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (CE) refers to the use of divergent psychoactive substances with the purpose of enhancing one's own cognition (e.g., increasing vigilance, concentration, memory). The group of substances for CE includes divergent over-the-counter drugs. Caffeine-containing products such as coffee, caffeinated drinks, and caffeine tablets are integral part of this group of substances. Furthermore, prescription drugs as well as illicit drugs belong to this group of CE substances (e.g., [psycho-]stimulants, modafinil). The use of caffeine in normal healthy subjects has very limited procognitive effects. However, there are few procognitive effects in healthy but sl…
Cognitive Enhancement – A Critical Look at the Recent Debate
2013
Cognitive enhancement, which can be characterized as the attempt to increase cognitive functions such as attention or memory in healthy individuals, has received considerable attention during the last decade, both in the general public and in academic discourse. In spite of a very active interdisciplinary debate which has provided helpful reflections, categorizations and clarifications, the numerous questions and problems related to cognitive enhancement are far from having been exhaustively discussed or even solved. Without any doubt, there are several aspects within this field that require more reflection and further clarifications. In this chapter, which serves as an introduction to the …