scholarly journals Optogenetic manipulation of maladaptive memory – new challenges or new solutions for personal authenticity?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Elsey
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Target Article ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
With Memory

Open peer commentary for the American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience. I consider the arguments of Zawadzki and Adamczyk in their target article, in which they present the case that optogenetic modification of human memory would represent a novel challenge to personal authenticity. I suggest that while this may be true if optogenetic memory manipulation is synonymous with memory silencing, it is possible that the form of optogenetic manipulation that might be pursued could take many forms - some of which may even be seen as enhancing authenticity. Nevertheless, optogenetic manipulation of the human brain presents many ethical challenges.

scholarly journals Volitional Control of Individual Neurons in the Human Brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kramay Patel ◽  
Chaim N. Katz ◽  
Suneil K. Kalia ◽  
Milos R. Popovic ◽  
Taufik A. Valiante
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Oscillation Phase ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Beta Frequency ◽  
Interconnected Structure

AbstractCan the human brain, a complex interconnected structure of over 80 billion neurons learn to control itself at the most elemental scale – a single neuron. We directly linked the firing rate of a single (direct) neuron to the position of a box on a screen, which participants tried to control. Remarkably, all subjects upregulated the firing rate of the direct neuron in memory structures of their brain. Learning was accompanied by improved performance over trials, simultaneous decorrelation of the direct neuron to local neurons, and direct neuron to beta frequency oscillation phase-locking. Such previously unexplored neuroprosthetic skill learning within memory related brain structures, and associated beta frequency phase-locking implicates the ventral striatum. Our demonstration that humans can volitionally control neuronal activity in mnemonic structures, may provide new ways of probing the function and plasticity of human memory without exogenous stimulation.

Oral History and Feminist Method

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-61
Author(s):  
Margaretta Jolly
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Baby Boomers ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
With Memory ◽  
Life Course Analysis ◽  
Second Generation Migrants

The chapter unpacks the book’s method as a history of living activists, set in the context of feminism’s affiliation with oral history and life-course analysis. It discusses the S&A oral history archive on which the book is based, outlining how S&A approached interviewee selection and representation, and acknowledging how such questions continue to divide the movement. Offering an overview of feminist oral history practice, addressing the ethics involved and the interpretative challenges of working with memory, subjectivity and emotion, it shows how the ‘baby boomers’, ‘second generation migrants’ and ‘lesbian-feminists’ who powered the WLM were shaped by the post-war worlds in which they grew up, and talked back to these categories, particularly as they gained control over fertility. The chapter concludes with the story of Sue Lopez, women’s footballer and champion for women’s rights in the sport, demonstrating oral history’s ethical challenges whilst celebrating an inspiring athlete and campaigner. 149 words

scholarly journals Moral Limits of Brain Organoid Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 760-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian J. Koplin ◽  
Julian Savulescu
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Stem Cell Research ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Moral Framework ◽  
Brain Organoid ◽  
Regulations And Guidelines

Brain organoid research raises ethical challenges not seen in other forms of stem cell research. Given that brain organoids partially recapitulate the development of the human brain, it is plausible that brain organoids could one day attain consciousness and perhaps even higher cognitive abilities. Brain organoid research therefore raises difficult questions about these organoids' moral status – questions that currently fall outside the scope of existing regulations and guidelines. This paper shows how these gaps can be addressed. We outline a moral framework for brain organoid research that can address the relevant ethical concerns without unduly impeding this important area of research.

Virtual Reality—Virtual Brain: Questioning Reality

Leonardo ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 453-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Wennberg
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Computer Memory ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Multimedia Art ◽  
Individual Human

The author’s multimedia art is inspired by memory and cognitive processes. This paper discusses certain human brain functions, including a reflection on the evolution from individual human memory to collective computer memory and the role of the artist in this vital change.

Shock, Surgery and Cerebral Asymmetry

1970 ◽  
Vol 117 (537) ◽  
pp. 143-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Inglis
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Normal Activity ◽  
Temporal Lobectomy ◽  
Cerebral Asymmetry

The main contention of this paper is that some of the transient side-effects of electroconvulsive therapy on human memory resemble, in kind if not in degree, those more severe and chronic learning defects that are known to appear as an incidental result of temporal lobectomy in man. If this claim can plausibly be supported it would imply a pressing need for the more systematic study of other modes of therapeutically effective ECT that would interfere as little as possible with the normal activity of those parts of the human brain that are essential for adequate learning and memory function.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: Implementing Containment Measures and Their Ethical Challenges

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsuda Sornklin ◽  
Thitiwan Kerdsomboon ◽  
Yongyuth Yuthavong ◽  
Prasit Palittapongarnpim ◽  
Soraj Hongladarom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
National Science ◽  
Office Of Research Integrity ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
New Challenges

Abstract Containment measures have been implemented in Thailand after the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The top priority is to save people’s lives. Unavoidably, serious consequences that affected the people’s income, privacy, needs, equality, and equity emerged, presenting new challenges. In order to begin to investigate these complex ethical questions, the Office of Research Integrity of National Science and Technology Development Agency organized a meeting in order to bring together key experts in various fields related to the Covid-19 pandemic to discuss what was going on in Thailand and how to manage it properly. Three key ethical settings, each of which caused significant effects, were discussed in the meeting, namely public health, medical services, and research and clinical trial settings. Many key ethical issues were revealed during the meeting, as well as how best to address and manage them properly.

Moral Status of Brain Organoids

2021 ◽  
pp. 250-268
Author(s):  
Julian Koplin ◽  
Olivia Carter ◽  
Julian Savulescu
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Stem Cell Research ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Moral Framework ◽  
Brain Organoid ◽  
Regulations And Guidelines

Brain organoid research raises ethical challenges not seen in other forms of stem cell research. Given that brain organoids recapitulate the development of the human brain, it is plausible that brain organoids could one day attain consciousness and perhaps even higher cognitive abilities. Brain organoid research therefore raises difficult questions about these organoids’ moral status—questions that currently fall outside the scope of existing regulations and guidelines. This chapter offers a novel moral framework for brain organoid research. It outlines the conditions under which brain organoids might attain moral status and explain what this means for the ethics of experimenting with these entities.

scholarly journals Eyewitness Science and the Legal System

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth F. Loftus
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Eyewitness Testimony ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
With Memory

For more than four decades, I have been studying the malleable nature of human memory. For most of this time period, I have also played a role as a consultant or expert in many legal cases that hinged on eyewitness testimony or other memory evidence. Here I describe some of the science that reveals how error prone eyewitnesses can be. Getting the legal field to recognize potential problems with memory evidence, and taking steps to solve those problems, has been a continuing struggle. It is a success story worth sharing.

Why does the human brain need to be a nonlinear system?

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew J. Kowalik ◽  
Andrzej Wrobel ◽  
Andrzej Rydz
Keyword(s):  
Nonlinear System ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Nonlinear Models ◽  
Linear Case ◽  
Linear Character ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Nonlinear Features

AbstractWe focus on one aspect of Wright & Liley's target article: the linearity of the EEG. According to the authors, some nonlinear models of the cortex can be reduced (approximated) to the linear case at the millimetric scale. We argue here that the statement about the linear character of EEG is too strong and that EEG exhibits nonlinear features which cannot be ignored.

scholarly journals Commentary: How New Research on Learning Is Re-writing How Schools Work and Teachers Teach

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate N. Caine ◽  
Geoffrey Caine
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Student Behavior ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
New Research

The article introduces the notion of a "meme." A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. In education it acts as a powerful assumption, guiding what is meant by learning and teaching and determines that teaching should include a textbook, teacher-directed lessons, control of student behavior, and testing as proof of "learning." The article explores new challenges to this meme coming from current research emerging out of biology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. It suggests that a form of project-based learning is more compatible with how the human brain was designed to make sense of experience.

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