[Intervening in the neural basis of one's personality: a practice-oriented ethical analysis of neuropharmacology and deep-brain stimulation].
Through the rapid progress in neuropharmacology it seems to become possible to effectively improve our cognitive capacities and emotional states by easily applicable means. Moreover, deep-brain stimulation may allow an effective therapeutic option for those neurological and psychiatric diseases which still can not be sufficiently treated by pharmacological measures. So far, however, both the benefit and the harm of these techniques are only insufficiently understood by neuroscience and detailed ethical analyses are still missing. In this article ethical criteria and most recent empirical evidence are systematically brought together for the first time. This analysis shows that it is irrelevant for an ethical evaluation whether a drug or a brain-machine interface is categorized as "enhancement" or "treatment" or whether it changes "human nature". The only decisive criteria are whether the intervention (1.) benefits the patient, (2.) does not harm the patient and (3.) is desired by the patient. However, current empirical data in both fields, neuropharmacology and deep-brain stimulation are still too sparse to adequately evaluate these criteria. Moreover, the focus in both fields has been strongly misled by neglecting the distinction between "benefit" and "efficacy": In past years research and clinical practice have only focused on physiological effects, but not on the actual benefit to the patient.
Abteilung für Kognitive Neurologie, Hertie Institut für Klinische Hirnforschung, Tübingen. matthis.synofzik@uni-tuebingen.de
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D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000941:ethics*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D009480:Neuropharmacology / Q000941:ethics*; D010551:Personality