title: Discovering the Neural Nature of Moral Cognition? Empirical, Theoretical, and Practical Challenges in Bioethical Research with Electroencephalography (EEG).
abstract: In this article we critically review the neural mechanisms of moral cognition that have recently been studied via electroencephalography (EEG). Such studies promise to shed new light on traditional moral questions by helping us to understand how effective moral cognition is embodied in the brain. It has been argued that conflicting normative ethical theories require different cognitive features and can, accordingly, in a broadly conceived naturalistic attempt, be associated with different brain processes that are rooted in different brain networks and regions. This potentially morally relevant brain activity has been empirically investigated through EEG-based studies on moral cognition. From neuroscientific evidence gathered in these studies, a variety of normative conclusions have been drawn and bioethical applications have been suggested. We discuss methodological and theoretical merits and demerits of the attempt to use EEG techniques in a morally significant way, point to legal challenges and policy implications, indicate the potential to reveal biomarkers of psychopathological conditions, and consider issues that might inform future bioethical work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr 65, 47057, Duisburg, Germany. nils-frederic.wagner@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: Nils-Frederic
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.affiliation: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Research Unit, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1Z 7K4, Canada.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D035843:Biomedical Research; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D028663:Ethical Theory; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals
keywords: Biomarkers; Brain imaging; Electroencephalography (EEG); Legal, practical and policy implications; Moral cognition; Normative ethics