Abstract
Scholars from various disciplines discuss the ethical, legal, and social implications of neurotechnology. Some have proposed four concrete “neurorights”. This review presents the research of two pioneers in brain stimulation from the 1950s to 1970s, José M. R. Delgado and Elliot S. Valenstein, who also reflected upon the ethical, legal, and social aspects of their and other scientists’ related research. Delgado even formulated the vision “toward a psychocivilized society” where brain stimulation is used to control, in particular, citizens’ aggressive and violent behavior. Valenstein, by contrast, believed that the brain is not organized in such a way to allow the control or even removal of only negative processes without at the same time diminishing desirable ones. The paper also describes how animal and human experimentation on brain stimulation was carried out in that time period. It concludes with a contemporary perspective on the relevance of neurotechnology for neuroethics, neurolaw, and neurorights, including two recent examples for brain-computer interfaces.
Highlights
Neurotechnology like neuroimaging, brain-computer interfaces, or brain stimulation raises important ethical, legal, and social questions
This review presents the research of two pioneers in brain stimulation from the 1950s to 1970s, José M
Both scientists are remarkable in that they did apply this neurotechnology very early and reflected on its potentials and risks for society; Delgado even imagined a whole society based on brain stimulation
Summary
Neurotechnology like neuroimaging, brain-computer interfaces, or brain stimulation raises important ethical, legal, and social questions. While Valenstein expressed a critical stance towards brain stimulation, proposing ethical considerations for clinical research himself and discussing limitations of the technology’s possible application, Delgado even saw his advanced stimoceiver as a neutral tool to be used for the better or worse of individuals and humankind. Even stronger, the latter firmly believed that the future of humanity depended on the possibility to control people’s minds through controlling their brains. I will close with some suggestions on which aspects should be considered for such assessments in the future
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