Neuroethics is a field that looks at emerging technologies and their relation to the brain.
According to Paul Root Wolpe, “Field of Neuroethics involves the analysis of, and remedial recommendations for, the ethical challenges posed by chemical, organic, and electro-mechanical interventions in the brain”.
Talking about brain-computer interfaces, First noninvasive interfaces. A number of EEG-based technologies use action potentials to translate brain impulses into action. The problem is that the skull is a very bad conductor, a very bad transmitter of the electrical activity of the brain. So, when people put these things in and these caps on, you muffle most of the activity you want to detect.
Based on the idea of the response potential, they have now created computer-brain interfaces that allow people to move cursors around screens and all kinds of things without any implanted technologies.
A similar technology is brain fingerprinting. Prof. Lawrence Farwell has used this technology forensically. The concept is to use EEGs to show whether a person is looking at a familiar or unfamiliar scene. A suspect is shown rapid pictures, and then, boom, a picture of a crime scene where, for example, the suspect says he never was. If his brain shows familiarity, Farwell can say he was probably there.
Some brain-computer interfaces are implantable, rather than transcranial. These include cochlear implants and the optic nerve implant.
Researchers are also working on retinal prosthetics. Today they have about 16 electrodes. Prosthesis with 1,000 or so electrodes could allow a patient to really look at things, to read a book, for example.
A man named Kevin Warwick had a chip implanted in his arm, which he then connected to the computer and environment in his laboratory. When he enters the lab, the lights go on and jazz starts playing. His heart beat and blood pressure appear on his computer screen.
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