The Pros And Cons Of Brain Scan

Ethics has become a relevant concern in neuroscience as neuroscience has allowed humans to learn more about the brain - the source of human identity. In particular, three issues have arisen: neuroethics of brain imaging, neuroethics of brain enhancement, and the neuroscience worldview. Neuroethics of brain imaging includes the utilization of information from brain scans, the balance between early treatment and bearing the burden of knowledge, and the protocol for addressing abnormal brain scans from research studies. Non-medical uses of EEGs and fMRIs, such as lie detection and market research (Farah 2012), become a concern because access to inner thoughts and feelings feels like an invasion of privacy. Early knowledge of a disease such as

Whether an individual wants to risk the burden of knowledge for early treatment is a personal decision and should not impede any advancements with brain scans. Researchers should not be obligated to have the scans searched for abnormalities nor should the subjects expect to be informed of any abnormalities. First, the subjects are likely incentivized by financial compensation, not a free brain scan. Second, it would be difficult to provide the brain scan results because as explained in the previous paragraph, interpretation of a brain scan is complicated and can be inconclusive due to false positives and asymptomatic abnormalities. Brain scans should be used to gain a better understanding of the brain, but caution must be taken about what and how much can be interpreted from

Those who require neuroenhancers for normal function should use them to create equality, but healthy individuals should not be encouraged to use neuroenhancers for increased productivity because a greater divide would be created between people, negating the original purpose for developing neuroenhancers. A divide between socioeconomic classes would also likely occur. Additionally, if the use of neuroenhancers among healthy individuals becomes popular, coercion is a serious issue that would be difficult to address. Side effects such as heart attack and psychosis are another potential consequence of healthy individuals using neuroenhancers, and there could be other side effects that are currently unknown. Due to physics, there are limitations to how productive our brains – and bodies – can become, so a relatively small increase in productivity at the expense of all of the consequences mentioned is not worth