The last couple days our class spent attending the International Neuroethics Conference. It was an amazing experience as it was a privilege to be able to listen to some of the greatest minds today in science, technology, policy, and philosophy. To learn from them and also witness their exchanges with each other was nothing short of inspiring. It reminded me of just how interdisciplinary neuroscience can be, which was one of the major reasons I chose to major in this field in the first place.
The topics covered were varied. On the first day, Theory of Mind was discussed a lot, and obviously this was an excellent bridge between neuroscience and philosophy. Some of the most interesting studies were done in animals, and more and more research dictates that animals are much more intelligent and aware than we previously thought (Martin & Santos, 2016). The ethics of Deep Brain Stimulation was also discussed at length and I was amazed at the breadth of diseases and disorders that are already being treated by this procedure.
Not only did we listen to several talks on these types of issues, but we participated in several roundtables and Q & A sessions that allowed us to interact directly with luminaries in several fields. Furthermore, we were able to tour the facility and meet some the researchers at the groundbreaking ICM.
Also this week we traveled to the OECD and were able to get an overview of what that organization does and sit down with two officials that worked for them and pick their brains about how neuroethics relates to international policy. The overall ethics of modern and future advances in science were discussed and it was very interesting to look at the ethics of science and innovation from the “big picture” perspective.
Furthermore, we were able to get an international perspective on the potential dangers of nationalism, as we were able to see firsthand how the current U.S. administration’s behavior has affected “decades of trust” between nations and has threatened the status quo of the world. No organizations feel this more acutely than international organizations like the UN and the OECD, the latter of which has yet to have a US representative appointed to their board, calling into question whether the president even believes in the OECD and the work they are doing. But I digress…
Overall, this “Neuroethics Week” has been super impactful and my eyes have been opened to the awesome strides the international community is making in scientific innovation, and to see researchers taking collective responsibility to make sure it remains ethical is nothing short of incredible.
References
Martin, A. & Santos, L. R. (2016). What Cognitive Representations Support Primate Theory of Mind? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(5), 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.03.005