Stimulating Autonomy: DBS and the Prospect of Choosing to Control Ourselves Through Stimulation

摘要

Implanted neural devices that stimulate our brains to restore functioning or address unwanted symptoms of disease (seizures, hand tremors, obsessive behaviors) that are resistant to other therapeutic efforts have become more common in the past 15 or so years. Although we aren't quite sure exactly why or how they work (Chiken and Nambu 2015), deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices are in many respects quite promising for a variety of conditions. Nonetheless, the devices have had some issues of safety or effectiveness and have also led to some interesting side effects, including mania, impulsivity, and personality alterations, as well as reports from individuals who simply don't feel "like themselves" postoperatively (Schüpbach et al. 2006; Kraemer 2013; Mecacci and Haselager 2014). As the articles and commentaries in this issue suggest, neuroethicists are rightly interested in how DBS devices interact with patient autonomy.