bioethics.net News Update - Neuroethics

Brain Science Creates a Need for Neuroethics

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:33:37 EST

Judy Illes has a dilemma. What happens when someone who has agreed to participate in a medical study undergoes a brain scan during which the researcher happens to discover an anomaly, a potential health risk?

Is My Mind Mine?

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:59:14 EDT

We all lead an inner life. Our thoughts flow through our heads, some fleeting, some lingering. We think about an upcoming celebration or we remember a moment from years past. We plan, speculate, love, fear, obsess, reason and interpret our lives in an ongoing inner dialogue that characterizes who we are as individuals. The inner dialogue, which exists wholly in our heads, is, in some sense, our single most private possession.

Study: More cases of autism in U.S. kids than previously realized

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:55:06 EDT

A study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics indicates about 1 percent of children ages 3 to 17 have autism or a related disorder, an increase over previous estimates. Dr. Michael D. Kogan of HRSA's maternal and child health bureau estimated the prevalence of ASD among U.S. children ages 3 to 17 at 110 per 10,000 -- slightly more than 1 percent.

A New Approach to Treating Spinal Cord Injuries

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:09:14 EDT

Researchers focused on reversing the paralysis induced by spinal cord injuries have focused on using stem cells to regenerate the damaged nerve cells that are needed to transmit signals from the brain to the limbs.

"Mad Pride" Activists Say They're Unique, Not Sick

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:14:22 EDT

Imagine if Vincent Van Gogh--an artist famously effected by mental health issues--had been forcibly injected with an antipsychotic drug like Thorazine. Or if Leonardo Da Vinci's genius had been affected by antidepressants like Wellbutrin.

Caution Urged Over fMRI for Life or Death Decisions

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:32:25 EDT

Bioethicists funded by the Wellcome Trust have urged caution over the use of advanced neuroimaging techniques in making life or death decisions about patients in a vegetative state.

The diagnostic madness of DSM-V

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:55:34 EDT

There's an awful lot of money to be made from compulsive shopping, judging by the career of Madeleine Wickham. Her Shopaholic series, written under the pen name Sophie Kinsella, is required reading for chick-lit enthusiasts, and the romantic comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic, the first of several planned big-screen adaptations, grossed more than $100 million worldwide. While the film, starring Isla Fisher, isn't terribly funny, it does make the valid point that to enjoy shopping for elegant clothes isn't a pathology. It's a style. The American Psychiatric Association risks losing sight of that distinction by grimly�and rather inexpertly�debating whether avid shopping should be considered a sign of mental illness.

Symptoms of Alzheimer's May Come in Your 50's

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:49:22 EDT

For people with a common genetic variation, researchers have discovered signs of the possible onset of Alzheimer's before a patient would be clinically diagnosed by a doctor. In people with the ApoE4 gene variation, one previously implicated as affecting the likelihood of Alzheimer's, researchers have been able to pinpoint some signs of memory loss beginning in the person's mid- to late-50s -- without the patient having full-blown Alzheimer's disease or dementia. "[One could argue] we really captured for the first time the onset of Alzheimer's disease," explained Dr. Richard Caselli, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Psychiatrists Rewriting the Mental Health Bible

Tue, 26 May 2009 07:51:18 EDT

Is the compulsion to hoard things a mental disorder? How about the practice of eating excessively at night? And what of Internet addiction: Should it be diagnosed and treated?

Determined to Amputate: One Man's Struggle With Body Integrity Identity Disorder

Wed, 20 May 2009 06:47:32 EDT

It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to lose a limb. But for people living with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), it�s a burning desire that haunts them every day of their lives.

State of Mind

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:19:48 EDT

Seventeen months ago, Joshua Hummel, now 24, was sleeping in his Seattle home when someone attacked him with an ax. He survived, but the penetrating blows to his skull left him in a minimally conscious state. Today he lives with his parents and two siblings in a St. Louis suburb. As I talk with his family in the kitchen, Joshua sits next to us in a wheelchair that he can't move himself. After a $17,000 remodel, his wheelchair can fit into the accessible bathroom, but he can't use the handrails on the walls. In the den there's a standing frame�when his mom uses a Hoyer lift to transfer him into it, the frame can support his body in a standing position, which is important for his circulation.

In Early Alzheimer's, When to Give Up the Car Keys

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:32:23 EDT

Scientists are creating tests to show when it's time for people with early Alzheimer's disease to stop driving.

Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:07:32 EDT

Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.

Missouri Lawmakers Seek to Mandate Autism Coverage

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:17:03 EST

Tom and Jenny Whitty have cashed out their children's college funds, maxed out several credit cards and taken out a second mortgage on their house � all to pay for therapy for their two autistic children.

Drug helps 'erase fearful memories'

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:16:40 EST

Fearful memories can be erased using a drug commonly prescribed for high blood pressure, research has shown. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating people suffering from the emotional after effects of traumatic experiences such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters. But one British expert questioned the ethics of meddling with a person's mind in this way.