Ethics and Mapping the brain

Summary of Ethics and mapping the brain:

The arising of new technologies that map the brain is providing us with brighter chances of understanding diseases and finding a cure for it. The same technology that enable some deaf people to hear could reveal the contents of a person’s memory, predict mental disorders of gifted-ness, and tell whether the person is lying.

One technology which shows the active parts of the brain by tracking changes in blood oxygen levels is functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI.

However, the author believes that this technology is not ready yet. He stated that the information that correlates complicated behaviour with brain states is not developed but it is coming. Also, he believes that both positive and negative rates of this technology are both too high right now.

The author talks about ethical issues that might arise from using this technology. There are many questions that the society has to answer about who will be tested, why they will be tested and how the results will be used.

Vocabulary:

1. Hypothetical: assumed by hypothesis; supposed

2. Genomic: the study of all of the nucleotide sequences, including structural genes, regulatory sequences, and non-coding DNA segments, in the chromosomes of an organism.

3. Juggernaut: overpowering, destructive force or object

4. Pedophilia: sexual desire in an adult for a child.

5. Alludes: to make an indirect reference

Citation:

Marano, L. (2003, June 3) Ethics and mapping the brain (an abridged version of the original in the Washington Times). Retrieved August 6, 2008, from the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics Web Site: http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/neuro/brain_mapping_ethics.htm