Most of us tend to think of our identity, our sense of self and who we are, as something that is relatively ingrained and unchanging; however, some people who receive neuroengineered implants, like those used in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), discover that their identity and sense of self are not as set in place as they might have previously thought. Even as implants help with disease symptoms, the devices can also cause shifts in personality, or make an individual question their control over their actions or moods.
On Friday, April 22nd, the University of Washington (UW) Program on Values in Society, the UW Department of Philosophy and the CSNE will be hosting a day-long symposium exploring how neuroengineered devices can impact identity and the sense of self. Stimulating the Self: Neurotechnology, Identity, and Agency is symposium designed to examine identity as it relates to neural technology, and to foster public discussion of these issues.
The symposium features three, internationally-known speakers who are leaders in the field of neuroethics. Each speaker will give a talk, followed by a short response from a CSNE member, as well as discussion and a Q&A session with the audience. Speakers and topics are:
Dr. Joseph Fins, Cornell Weill Medical College (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.): Dr. Fins is a physician and medical ethicist who specializes in disorders of consciousness such as vegetative and minimally conscious states. He is known for exploring topics such as respect for patient autonomy and obtaining informed consent for research experimentation. He will be presenting a talk titled, Agency ex-Machina: Neuroprosthetics and the Re-emergent Self. The talk will be commented on by the CSNE member and Affiliate Assistant Professor at the UW Department of Philosophy, Dr. Eran Klein.
Dr. Françoise Baylis, Dalhousie University (11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.): Dr. Baylis is a philosopher whose innovative work in bioethics, at the intersection of novel technologies and ethics, has stretched the very boundaries of the field. She is at the forefront of exploring identity as it is affected by DBS devices, and she will be presenting a talk titled, I Am Who I Am, She Is Who She Is: When Illness and Technology Disrupt the Narrative Flow. The talk will be commented on by the CSNE member and UW neurosurgeon, Dr. Andrew Ko.
Dr. Karen Rommelfanger, Emory University (2 – 3:30 p.m.): Dr. Rommelfanger is the Neuroethics Program Director at the Emory University Center for Ethics, and she is an Assistant Professor in Emory University's Department of Neurology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is known for exploring how evolving neuroscience and neurotechnologies challenge societal definitions of disease and medicine. She will be presenting a talk titled, When I Becomes We: Ethical Implications of Emerging Brain-to-Brain Interfacing Technologies. The talk will be commented on by Dr. Laura Specker-Sullivan, Postdoctoral Neuroethics Fellow at the CSNE and Affiliate Assistant Professor at the UW Department of Philosophy.
Attendees of this symposium can expect to learn about the ways in which neural technologies might help to enhance autonomy and agency, as well as potentially shift our understanding of identity and agency. The idea for this symposium grew out of an ethics paper, Engineering the Brain: Ethical Issues and the Introduction of Neural Devices, which the CSNE neuroethicists published last year in the Hastings Center Report. Because the issue of identity kept arising in the process of working on the paper, the CSNE neuroethicists desired to go into greater depth about this topic. The symposium offers an opportunity to discuss their work in the context of other ongoing work in this area.
The CSNE neuroethics thrust aims to explore the ethical aspects of neural engineering from the earliest stages of the research, rather than just after a device has been designed. The neuroethics thrust collaborates with CSNE engineers and neuroscientists to examine how neural engineering may impact human values related to identity, authority, normality, privacy, and justice.
“Our long term goal is to create a climate in which scientists and engineers recognize and consider ethical issues related to their work even in the earliest stages. We also aim to ensure the inclusion of end-user values and priorities in the research, and to foster public discussion of this potentially transformative technology, says Dr. Sara Goering, the CSNE neuroethics thrust leader.
This symposium is intended for people who work in neuroscience and other scientific and related medical fields, potential end-users of these technologies, and anyone who may have an interest in human-technology interaction. The event will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the University of Washington Husky Union Building, room HUB 332, and it is open and free to the public. Register online to attend. For more information, please contact Dr. Sara Goering at 206-616-2102 or sgoering@uw.edu.