AJOB Neuroscience.
Psychotropic neuroenhancement by young people under 18 is growing, and is certain to increase further with the availability of effective drugs and increasing tolerance for neuroenhancement practices. Use of these agents by young people for purposes of enhancement has social and ethical implications that require scrutiny and analysis. It is particularly important that these analyses do not simply translate normative judgments on adult neuroenhancement practices or intentions to young people. In this article, we outline the key social and ethical concerns raised by the use of stimulant drugs for neuroenhancement in young people and make specific research, practice, and policy recommendations. We also suggest a rationale for clinical management of psychotropic drug neuroenhancers for young people, attending closely to the necessary boundaries on such practice asserted by organizational and clinical factors, as well as by potential ethical conflicts.
Open Peer Commentaries.
- Not All Means Are Created Equal and Some Other Problems
- Democratizing “Psychotropic Neuroenhancement”
- Should Children Have Equal Access to Neuroenhancements?
- Sudden Discontinuation and the Subjective Character of Experience: A Reason to Resist Psychotropic Neuroenhancements
- Considering Enhancement (and/or Treatment): On the Need to Regard Contingency and Develop Dialectic Evaluation—A Commentary on Singh and Kelleher
- Neuroenhancement in Young People: Cultural Need or Medical Technology?
- Negotiating an Inevitable Future?
- From Ritalin to Malignant Teaching—The Fuzzy Borders of Neuroenhancement
- Pediatric Neuroenhancement: Full Steam Ahead, In a Leaky Boat?
