Helen Phillips in New Scientist:
WHAT if there was a drug that helped you do your job better, and your boss was pressuring you to take it, even though it could be bad for your health? There are already drugs that can boost memory or alertness, but whose long-term effects are unknown. Or what if scientists could tell what you were thinking or planning to do before you knew it yourself? Brain scans can now do this.
Should these drugs and procedures be regulated – or permitted at all? That is the inspiration for the “Meeting of minds” project, a brainchild of Belgian organisation the King Baudouin Foundation.
For the past two years, a citizens’ panel of 126 Europeans from different age groups and backgrounds has been considering the ethical dilemmas emerging from brain science research. This weekend they are meeting in the Belgian capital, Brussels, to finalise their recommendations before presenting them to the European Parliament on 23 January
(see “Causes for concern”).
More here.