Introduction to NeuroEthics

1. Introduction to NeuroEthics 授課老師：龔俊嘉 101.11.07

2. Outline • NeuroEthics • 歷史 • 主要課題 • Persistent Vegetative State(PVS) • 未來展望

3. NeuroEthics • NeuroEthicsemphasize the ethical, legal and social implications of neuroscience. • Address the moral and social questions raised by cognition-enhancing drugs and devices (brain implants and the like). • Rees and Rose(editors of《 The New Brain Sciences: Perils and Prospects 》) claim neuroethics is a neologism that emerged only at the beginning of the 21st century

4. NeuroEthics • Traditional philosophical problems, such as the nature of free will, moral responsibility, self-deception, and person identity. • Topics include the issue of brain enhancement, the administration of psychopharmaceuticals to children, or Persistent Vegetative State(PVS) .

5. Persistent Vegetative State(PVS) • A disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness.

6. Metabolism of brain

7. Vegetative state and healthy response

8. Vegetative state and healthy response • A man who had been presumed to be in a vegetative state for five years, can communicate 'yes' and 'no' via his thought patterns, according to study results published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

9. Future prospect • We might be able to have input from the patient, although it remains to be seen if the law will consider them of a sound mind to make such life-or-death decisions. • It is exciting to see the use of increasingly sophisticated technology that allows scientists to peer into our brains to reveal conscious thought.