"The brain, after all, is the seat of what we consider our humanity. Our growing understanding of how the brain works and how we may manipulate, inquire into, or change it … must now call forth our best efforts to seek ethical consensus while issues are taking shape—not after they have emerged as moral crises or controversies in the public arena."
Foreword, Ruth Fischbach, PhD, MPE, and Gerald Fischbach, MD
For most of us, neuroscience research is a rarified world of laboratory experiments that has little to do with our everyday lives. Yet sooner than we may expect, new discoveries in neuroscience will directly affect the way we live, work, and think. Acclaimed science writer Sandra Ackerman has been on the front lines of the ethical debates in neuroscience, and in Hard Science, Hard Choices she offers a concise yet informed examination of the ethical challenges facing neuroscience today.
Top scholars and scientists in neuroscience, law, and ethics convened at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., last May to debate the latest findings in neuroscience and their potential impact on society. Ackerman's clear, engaging narrative synthesizes their discussions and explores the controversial issues that emerged with the newest neuroscience discoveries. The volume is divided into three topics—Neuroimaging, Drugs on the Brain, and Neurotechnology—and each section examines the numerous facets of neuroscience's ethical quandaries. From the definition of consciousness in brain damaged patients, to the long-term health effects of Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs on children, to the use of neuroimaging in courts of law, Hard Science, Hard Choices reveals that the consequences of brain research are not tomorrow's problems—we have already entered uncharted scientific territory.
Hard Science, Hard Choices features thought-provoking discussions among the most distinguished luminaries in the fields of neuroscience and law, including Michael Gazzaniga, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Dartmouth College; Marcus Raichle of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; Harvard University provost Steven Hyman; and Stanford law professor Hank Greely.
A fascinating exploration of the intersections between neuroscience, society, and our belief systems, Hard Science, Hard Choices will be essential reading for all those concerned about the future of science and medicine.
Sandra Ackerman is a science journalist and the author of Discovering the Brain.
The Dana Press, a division of the Dana Foundation, publishes health and popular science books about the brain for the general reader. It also publishes periodicals and educational material, as well as informational material on behalf of the Dana Foundation and Dana Alliance. Dana Press publications are distributed by the University of Chicago Press.
Sandra Ackerman is available for interviews. For more information please contact Harriett Green
at (773) 702-4217
hg@press.uchicago.edu
