Press release: Hard Science, Hard Choices: Facts, Ethics, and Policies Guiding Brain Science Today
For most of us, neuroscience research is a rarified world of laboratory experiments that has little to do with our everyday lives. Yet, sooner than we may expect, new discoveries in neuroscience will directly affect the way we live, work, and think. Acclaimed science writer Sandra Ackerman has been on the front lines of the ethical debates in neuroscience, and in Hard Science, Hard Choices she offers a concise, yet informed, examination of the ethical challenges facing neuroscience today.
Top scholars and scientists in neuroscience, law, and ethics convened at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., last May to debate the latest findings in neuroscience and their potential impact on society. Ackerman's clear, engaging narrative synthesizes their discussions and explores the controversial issues that emerged with the newest neuroscience discoveries. The volume is divided into three topics—Neuroimaging, Drugs on the Brain, and Neurotechnology—and each section examines the numerous facets of neuroscience's ethical quandaries. From the definition of consciousness in brain damaged patients, to the long-term health effects of Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs on children, to the use of neuroimaging in courts of law, Hard Science, Hard Choices reveals that the consequences of brain research are not tomorrow's problems—we have already entered uncharted scientific territory.