Neuroscience and ethics

Neuroethics is a fairly modern field in science that came about as product of bioethics
and neuroscience, bioethics is the field that deals with ethical concerns involved in the advances of
biological science (Islles &Bird,2006). A subfield of bioethics named biomedical ethics, operates mainly
around basic and clinical research it involves approaching with scrutiny practices involved in medicine
especially. The core belief in Biomedical ethics is respect to the individual. The issue revolving around
this field is the ability of an individual make an autonomous and informed decision when participating in
clinical research. Neuroethics were shaped in the umbrella of biomedical ethics, the latter changed the
global approach and ideology involving ethics in human experimentation. The two fields intersect in the
sense that neuroethics is concerned with the legal and social impacts of neuroscience research , its
findings and the manner or nature the research was carried in. The term neuroethics has been
associated with different ethical issues in regard to child-development and advancement or discovery of
technology used in neuroscience.

Perhaps one of the most significant ethical breaches and in fact horrific events, in
neuroscience research, that shaped biomedical ethics involving human experimentation can date back
to experiments made by the third Reich in World war 2 . But throughout this podcast I shall go through a
timeline of events that considerably led to the creation of neuroethics and the birth of different
international committees that sat together to assess and establish laws regarding biomedical research.
To begin with we shall travel back the first brain surgery that attempted to cure mental
illness ,prefrontal lobotomy

Late 19th century and early 20th century:

Frontal lobotomy and leucotomy was introduced in the late 19 th century and early 20th century ,
frontal lobotomy involved sectioning the part of the brain responsible for personality expression and
cognitive behaviour (frontal cortex) and frontal leucotomy involved severing the underlying white
matter.. In 1888 Dr. Gottliedb Burckhardt removed an area of the cerebral cortex in one of his patients ,
convinced that that area was responsible for his patient violent behaviour and mental disorder. He
published a report which his colleagues and the medical community disapproved. Burckhardt had to
stop his work. Subsequently at the Second International Neurologic Congress Dr John F Fulton
presented his findings after removing certain areas in the prefrontal cortex of 2 chimpanzees . The
chimpanzee became emotionally unresponsive and could not exhibit any “frustrational behaviour”
which otherwise would be observed in chimpanzees. Attending the same congress was Dr. Antonio
Edgar Moniz who was in support of Dr Fulton’s work and his associate Dr Almeida Lima , both worked
together on performing the first leucotomy . It involved sectioning nerve connections in the white
matter to mitigate severe mental illness, like depression and schizophrenia. It was then that symptoms
of damage on the fontal lobe were associated with the removal of certain of its areas or severing nerve
connections. Apathy, lack of initiative , lack of restraint and personality changes was observed in
patients that underwent these surgical procedure . By 1952 John Fulton announced the end of
lobotomy , but during the 1960s civil unrest across cities in the U.S.A researchers still proposed the used
of psychosurgery to control violent behaviour whilst knowing its detoriating effect. The researchers
were met with opposition which raised awareness of the possibility for misuse and the side effects
associated with surgery on the frontal lobe to help solve social problems with deeper causes . Increasing
research on the brain and awareness prompted the creation of The International Brain Research
Organization In 1960.

WORLD WAR 2

In the