AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2023-10-09DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2257159
Bor Luen Tang
{"title":"In Situ Reprogramming of Neurons and Glia - A Risk in Altering Memory and Personality?","authors":"Bor Luen Tang","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2257159","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2257159","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The recent emergence of reprogramming technologies to convert brain cell types or epigenetically alter neurons and neural progenitors in vivo and in situ hold significant promises in brain repair and neuronal aging reversal. However, given the significant epigenetic and transcriptomic changes to components of the existing neuronal cells and network, we question if these reprogramming technology might inadvertently alter or erase memory engrams, conceivably resulting in changes in narrative identity or personality. We suggest that the nature of these alterations might be less predictable compared to memory and personality changes known to be associated with diseases, drugs or brain stimulation therapies. While research in applying reprogramming technologies to neurological ailments and aging should continue, more targeted analyses should be put in place in animal experiments to gauge the severity and degree of memory alterations, and appropriate risk and benefit analyses should be conducted before these technologies move into human trials.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"90-95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41146413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2023-04-05DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2188275
Daniel Susser, Laura Y Cabrera
{"title":"Brain Data in Context: Are New Rights the Way to Mental and Brain Privacy?","authors":"Daniel Susser, Laura Y Cabrera","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2188275","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2188275","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The potential to collect brain data more directly, with higher resolution, and in greater amounts has heightened worries about mental and brain privacy. In order to manage the risks to individuals posed by these privacy challenges, some have suggested codifying new privacy rights, including a right to \"mental privacy.\" In this paper, we consider these arguments and conclude that while neurotechnologies do raise significant privacy concerns, such concerns are-at least for now-no different from those raised by other well-understood data collection technologies, such as gene sequencing tools and online surveillance. To better understand the privacy stakes of brain data, we suggest the use of a conceptual framework from information ethics, Helen Nissenbaum's \"contextual integrity\" theory. To illustrate the importance of context, we examine neurotechnologies and the information flows they produce in three familiar contexts-healthcare and medical research, criminal justice, and consumer marketing. We argue that by emphasizing what is distinct about brain privacy issues, rather than what they share with other data privacy concerns, risks weakening broader efforts to enact more robust privacy law and policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"122-133"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9247716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2023-11-03DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2270512
Jan Christoph Bublitz
{"title":"What an International Declaration on Neurotechnologies and Human Rights Could Look like: Ideas, Suggestions, Desiderata.","authors":"Jan Christoph Bublitz","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2270512","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2270512","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>International institutions such as UNESCO are deliberating on a new standard setting instrument for neurotechnologies. This will likely lead to the adoption of a soft law document which will be the first global document specifically tailored to neurotechnologies, setting the tone for further international or domestic regulations. While some stakeholders have been consulted, these developments have so far evaded the broader attention of the neuroscience, neurotech, and neuroethics communities. To initiate a broader debate, this target article puts to discussion twenty-five considerations and desiderata for recognition by a future instrument. They are formulated at different levels of abstraction, from the big picture to technical details, seek to widen the perspective of preparatory reports and transcend the narrow debate about \"neurorights\" which overshadows many richer and more relevant aspects. These desiderata are not an exhaustive enumeration but a starting point for discussions about what deserves and what requires protection by an international instrument.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"96-112"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71427603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2022-10-05DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2022.2129858
Timothy Daly, Karl Herrup, Alberto J Espay
{"title":"An Ethical Argument for Ending Human Trials of Amyloid-Lowering Therapies in Alzheimer's Disease.","authors":"Timothy Daly, Karl Herrup, Alberto J Espay","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2022.2129858","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2022.2129858","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Given the past two decades of over 40 failed trials of amyloid-lowering therapies in Alzheimer's Disease (AD), many of which succeeded in lowering amyloid as designed, we present an ethical argument for emptying the drug pipeline of tests of amyloid-lowering agents so as to end the historical dominance of the amyloid-reducing therapeutic approach in AD.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"80-81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33504601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2021-06-17DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2021.1938292
Agnieszka K Adamczyk, Przemysław Zawadzki
{"title":"Personality and Authenticity in Light of the Memory-Modifying Potential of Optogenetics: A Reply to Objections about Potential Therapeutic Applicability of Optogenetics.","authors":"Agnieszka K Adamczyk, Przemysław Zawadzki","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2021.1938292","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2021.1938292","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"W4-W7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39241227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-04-01Epub Date: 2024-02-05DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2024.2303154
Julian D Sandbrink, Kyle Johnson, Maureen Gill, David B Yaden, Julian Savulescu, Ivar R Hannikainen, Brian D Earp
{"title":"Strong Bipartisan Support for Controlled Psilocybin Use as Treatment or Enhancement in a Representative Sample of US Americans: Need for Caution in Public Policy Persists.","authors":"Julian D Sandbrink, Kyle Johnson, Maureen Gill, David B Yaden, Julian Savulescu, Ivar R Hannikainen, Brian D Earp","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2024.2303154","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2024.2303154","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The psychedelic psilocybin has shown promise both as treatment for psychiatric conditions and as a means of improving well-being in healthy individuals. In some jurisdictions (e.g., Oregon, USA), psilocybin use for both purposes is or will soon be allowed and yet, public attitudes toward this shift are understudied. We asked a nationally representative sample of 795 US Americans to evaluate the moral status of psilocybin use in an appropriately licensed setting for either treatment of a psychiatric condition or well-being enhancement. Showing strong bipartisan support, participants rated the individual's decision as morally positive in both contexts. These results can inform effective policy-making decisions around supervised psilocybin use, given robust public attitudes as elicited in the context of an innovative regulatory model. We did not explore attitudes to psilocybin use in unsupervised or non-licensed community or social settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"82-89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139693124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2023-06-28DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2225461
Timothy Daly
{"title":"Dementia Prevention Guidelines Should Explicitly Mention Deprivation.","authors":"Timothy Daly","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2225461","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2225461","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The brain requires sustained interaction with a rich physical and social environment to stay healthy. Individuals without access to such enabling environments and who instead live and grow in disabling environments tend to have greater risk of developing dementia. But research and policymaking as regards dementia risk reduction have so far focused almost exclusively on the role of how individuals' health behaviors change their risk profile. This exclusive focus on \"lifestyle\" is both ethically problematic and therapeutically inadequate. I highlight a growing literature on three different kinds of deprivation, an independent and overlooked risk factor for dementia that invites upstream action against inequalities. Future prevention guidelines should include explicit mention of deprivation as a risk factor and be developed around the need to make society fairer. Meanwhile, interventions and discourse based on lifestyle modification should respect the principle of \"no ought without support.\"</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"73-76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10049043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2022-10-12DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2022.2126539
Parker Crutchfield, Michael Redinger
{"title":"The Conditions for Ethical Chemical Restraints.","authors":"Parker Crutchfield, Michael Redinger","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2022.2126539","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2022.2126539","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The practice of medicine frequently involves the unconsented restriction of liberty. The reasons for unilateral liberty restrictions are typically that being confined, strapped down, or sedated are necessary to prevent the person from harming themselves or others. In this paper, we target the ethics of chemical restraints, which are medications that are used to intentionally restrict the mental states associated with the unwanted behaviors, and are typically not specifically indicated for the condition for which the patient is being treated. Specifically, we aim to identify the conditions under which chemical restraints are ethically permissible. It is wrong to assume that what is morally true of physical restraints is also true of chemical restraints. Our aim is thus to identify the conditions under which chemical restraints are permissible while distinguishing these conditions from those of the application of physical restraints.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"3-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33502589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AJOB NeurosciencePub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2023-06-28DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2225467
Natalie J Dorfman, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Peter A Ubel, Bryanna Moore, Ryan Nelson, Brent M Kious
{"title":"What Do Psychiatrists Think About Caring for Patients Who Have Extremely Treatment-Refractory Illness?","authors":"Natalie J Dorfman, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Peter A Ubel, Bryanna Moore, Ryan Nelson, Brent M Kious","doi":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2225467","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21507740.2023.2225467","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Questions about when to limit unhelpful treatments are often raised in general medicine but are less commonly considered in psychiatry. Here we describe a survey of U.S. psychiatrists intended to characterize their attitudes about the management of suicidal ideation in patients with severely treatment-refractory illness. Respondents (<i>n</i> = 212) received one of two cases describing a patient with suicidal ideation due to either borderline personality disorder or major depressive disorder. Both patients were described as receiving all guideline-based and plausible emerging treatments. Respondents rated the expected helpfulness and likelihood of recommending each of four types of intervention: hospitalization, additional medication changes, additional neurostimulation, and additional psychotherapy. Across both cases, most respondents said they were likely to provide each intervention, except for additional neurostimulation in borderline personality disorder, while fewer thought each intervention would be helpful. Substantial minorities of respondents indicated that they would provide an intervention they did not think was likely to be helpful. Our results suggest that while most psychiatrists recognize the possibility that some patients are unlikely to be helped by available treatments, many would continue to offer such treatments.</p>","PeriodicalId":39022,"journal":{"name":"AJOB Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"51-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10049041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}