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"The Ethics of Neuroenhancement: Smart Drugs, Competition and Society" offered for open access for the month of April

Can Smart Drugs Enhance Brain Power?

By IGI Global on Mar 30, 2015
Can Smart Drugs Enhance Brain Power?“Ultimately, our drug use is a reflection of our society, and should never be considered without the broader context of why healthy people choose to use the drugs in the first place.” (Sahakian & Morein-Zamir, 2007)1

Recent studies show that "smart drugs" are becoming increasingly popular among today's academics and researchers, raising the important question as to whether cognitive enhancement is morally objectionable.

Smart drugs, also referred to as nootropics, memory enhancers, neuro enhancers, and cognitive enhancers, are drugs, supplements, and foods that improve some aspects of mental function, such as working memory, motivation, and attention.2 According to the recent article on CNN Money, entrepreneur Dan Asprey says he spent 15 years and over $300,000 to "hack his own biology" with smart drugs. Along with supplements, he also uses various techniques to exercise his brain, claiming to have increased his IQ by 20 points. His health podcast has been downloaded more than 6 million times.3

The ethical use of smart drugs is under current speculation by the US government. Amy Gutmann, chairwoman of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, released the second part of a report on March 26th on ethics in neuroscience research, commissioned by President Barack Obama as part of the BRAIN Initiative, a collaborative effort to develop tools to study the human brain. The new report focused on three main areas: cognitive enhancement, informed consent in mentally impaired individuals and the use of neuroscience in the legal system. The report concluded with a general statement calling for more research on the subject. 4

The IGI Global article "The Ethics of Neuroenhancement: Smart Drugs, Competition and Society," by Dr. Nils-Frederic Wagner (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada & Carleton University), Dr. Jeffrey Robinson (Royal Ottawa Health Care Group) and Dr. Christine Wiebking (Department of Sociology of Physical Activity and Health, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany) explores more of the ethical dilemma surrounding these suspect meds. The article is an attempt to articulate this moral unease and poses an argument for why the authors believe cognitive enhancement to be morally objectionable. Download "The Ethics of Neuroenhancement: Smart Drugs, Competition and Society" here.

An article in the International Journal of Technoethics (IJT), this resource advances scholarship on the impact of ethics in technological advances and applications, both in established areas (e.g. computer ethics, engineering ethics, and biotech ethics) and new areas of research (e.g. nanoethics, artificial morality, and neuroethics). As a semi-annual journal that publishes empirical research, theoretical studies, innovative methodologies, practical applications, case studies, and book reviews, IJT provides moral and ethical aspects of technology in society. Indexed by SCOPUS, Inspec, and ACM, this journal is a valuable addition to any library or collection. Recommend to your librarian or download a sample issue of IJT on the journal web page.

1 Sahakian & Morein-Zamir, (2007). Nature, 1157-1159. doi:10.1038/4501157a.
2http://motherboard.vice.com/read/brain-enhancing-smart-drugs-are-going-commercial
3http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/25/technology/nootropics-smart-drugs/
4http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/27/smart-pills-ethics_n_6955744.html


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Some of IGI Global’s other publications discussing human enhancement and ethics include the following:



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