Abstract
Neurotechnology is an advancing field of research and development with significant implications for education. As ‘postdigital’ hybrids of biological and informational codes, novel neurotechnologies combine neuroscience insights into the human brain with advanced technical development in brain imaging, brain-computer interfaces, neurofeedback platforms, brain stimulation and other neuroenhancement applications. Merging neurobiological knowledge about human life with computational technologies, neurotechnology exemplifies how postdigital science will play a significant role in societies and education in decades to come. As neurotechnology developments are being extended to education, they present potential for businesses and governments to enact new techniques of ‘neurogovernance’ by ‘scanning’ the brain, ‘scraping’ it for data and then ‘sculpting’ the brain toward particular capacities. The aim of this article is to critically review neurotechnology developments and implications for education. It examines the purposes to which neurotechnology development is being put in education, interrogating the commercial and governmental objectives associated with it and the neuroscientific concepts and expertise that underpin it. Finally, the article raises significant ethical and governance issues related to neurotechnology development and postdigital science that require concerted attention from education researchers.
Highlights
Neurotechnology is an advancing field of research and development with significant implications for education
Understanding and analyzing neurotechnology from a postdigital perspective requires engagement with biosocial studies of neuroscience, sociotechnical studies of technology production and posthumanist theory on the assemblages produced by human-machine integration
Neurotechnology supports the uptake of neuroscience in public policy and ‘neuroliberal’ efforts to govern through neurological insights (Whitehead et al 2018), where techniques of ‘targeting the brain’ are mobilised to ‘optimise’ human capacities and ‘neuroscience is used to support and construct particular understandings of society’ (Broer and Pickersgill 2015: 54)
Summary
The human brain has become the focus of intense interest across scientific, technical, governmental, and commercial domains in recent years. Its report ‘Enhancing the Brain and Reshaping Society’ claims that neuroenhancements will become widespread, improve collective human performance and transform society in coming years (Potomac Institute 2014) As a result, it has called for collaborative efforts between policymakers, scientists and the private sector to develop novel neurotechnologies that can enhance individuals’ cognitive abilities and behaviours in order to ‘improve social order’ (6) and thereby ‘ensure neuroenhancement of the individual will result in enrichment of our society as a whole’ (45). In the rest of this article, the concept of imagined neurofutures underpins the non-determinist perspective taken on neurotechnology, drawing attention to such technologies as framed by political and commercial aspirations which sometimes obscure the current state of technical development, especially in education
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