Abstract
The prospect of being able to take safe and effective drugs to improve mental functioning is becoming a reality. With the potential for widespread use of cognitive enhancers by large sectors of the population, this article discusses the rationale behind the development of these drugs and how society might benefit from them. Important ethical questions and scenarios are also raised. Scientists are urged to explore the implications of their work and engage in active debate with a wide range of interested stakeholders about the ethical and moral consequences of these new technologies to ensure maximal benefit with minimal harm.
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aDanielle C. Turner is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Center for Cognitive Liberty (CCLE), USA. Her core research interest is in the enhancement of cognition, and she recently completed a PhD entitled ‘Psychopharmacology of cognitive enhancement’ at the University of Cambridge.
bBarbara J. Sahakian is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, UK. She currently holds the F.C. Donders Chair in Psychopharmacology at Utrecht University. Her research interests include neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, neuroimaging and cognitive psychopharmacology, and she has over 200 publications in scientific journals, including Nature, Science, The Lancet, British Medical Journal, Brain, Archives of General Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine.
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Turner, D., Sahakian, B. Neuroethics of Cognitive Enhancement. BioSocieties 1, 113–123 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1745855205040044
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1745855205040044