HOUSTON: The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is an effort to fast-track the development of new technology that will help scientists understand the workings of the human brain and its diseases.
But can a person with Alzheimer’s truly consent to testing that may help scientists better understand their disease?
To address this question, the USA Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, an independent advisory group, recently released the second volume of a report examining the issues that may arise as neuroscience advances. The commission outlined three areas it deemed particularly fraught: cognitive enhancement, consent, and the use of neuroscience in the legal system…