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Neurocognitive enhancement: what can we do and what should we do?

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 5, pages 421–425 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Our growing ability to alter brain function can be used to enhance the mental processes of normal individuals as well as to treat mental dysfunction in people who are ill. The prospect of neurocognitive enhancement raises many issues about what is safe, fair and otherwise morally acceptable. This article resulted from a meeting on neurocognitive enhancement that was held by the authors. Our goal is to review the state of the art in neurocognitive enhancement, its attendant social and ethical problems, and the ways in which society can address these problems.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based, in part, on a meeting held at the New York Academy of Sciences in June 2003, supported by a grant to J.I. from the National Science Foundation with co-sponsorship of a Mushett Family Foundation grant to the Academy. The writing of this paper was supported by NSF and NIH grants to M.J.F. and an NIH grant and a Greenwald Foundation grant to J.I.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, 3720 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Martha J. Farah

  2. the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics and the Department of Radiology, 701 Welch Road, Stanford, 94304-5748, California, USA

    Judy Illes

  3. the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy and Department of Public Policy Studies, Center for Genome Ethics, Law and Policy, Duke University, Room 127C, North Building, Research Drive, Box 90141, Durham, 27708-0141, North Carolina, USA

    Robert Cook-Deegan

  4. the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Roy E. Larsen Hall, 2nd Floor, Appian Way, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Howard Gardner

  5. the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, 10032, New York, USA

    Eric Kandel

  6. the Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, 20001, DC, USA

    Patricia King

  7. the The Hastings Center, 21 Malcolm Gordon Drive, Garrison, 10524-5555, New York, USA

    Eric Parens

  8. the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Box 189, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK

    Barbara Sahakian

  9. the Departments of Psychiatry, Medical Ethics, and Sociology, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania, 3401 Market Street, Philadelphia, 19104-3319, Pennsylvania, USA

    Paul Root Wolpe

Authors
  1. Martha J. Farah
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  2. Judy Illes
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  3. Robert Cook-Deegan
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  4. Howard Gardner
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  5. Eric Kandel
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  6. Patricia King
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  7. Eric Parens
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  8. Barbara Sahakian
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  9. Paul Root Wolpe
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Martha J. Farah or Judy Illes.

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Competing interests

E.K. is a co-founder and Chariman of the scientific board of directors of Memory Pharmaceuticals.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

Martha Farah's homepage

Judy Illes's homepage

Howard Gardner's homepage

Eric Kandel's laboratory

Patricia King's homepage

Barbara Sahakian's homepage

Paul Root Wolpe

NYAS e-briefing on neuroethics

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Farah, M., Illes, J., Cook-Deegan, R. et al. Neurocognitive enhancement: what can we do and what should we do?. Nat Rev Neurosci 5, 421–425 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1390

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