•  49
    I Miss Being Me: Phenomenological Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation
    with Frederic Gilbert, John Noel M. Viaña, Adrian Carter, and Malcolm Horne
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 8 (2): 96-109. 2017.
    The phenomenological effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on the self of the patient remains poorly understood and under described in the literature, despite growing evidence that a significant number of patients experience postoperative neuropsychiatric changes. To address this lack of phenomenological evidence, we conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with 17 patients with Parkinson's disease who had undergone DBS. Exploring the subjective character specific to patients' experience …Read more
  •  39
    This paper explores the impacts of neurological intervention on selfhood with reference to recipients’ claims about changes to their self-understanding following Deep Brain Stimulation for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. In the neuroethics literature, patients’ claims such as: “I don’t feel like myself anymore” and “I feel like a machine”, are often understood as expressing threats to identity. In this paper I argue that framing debates in terms of a possible threat to identity—whether for or …Read more
  •  23
    Towards including end-users in the design of prosthetic hands: Ethical analysis of survey of Australians with upper-limb difference
    with Mary Jean Walker, Benjamin Stephens-Fripp, and Gursel Alici
    Science and Engineering Ethics (2): 1-27. 2019.
    Advances in prosthetic design should benefit people with limb difference. But empirical evidence demonstrates a lack of uptake of prosthetics among those with limb difference, including of advanced designs. Non-use is often framed as a problem of prosthetic design or a user’s response to prosthetics. Few studies investigate user experience and preferences, and those that do tend to address satisfaction or dissatisfaction with functional aspects of particular designs. This results in limited data…Read more
  •  19
    Thinking Ahead Too Much: Speculative Ethics and Implantable Brain Devices
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 5 (1): 49-51. 2014.
  •  16
    Women in Philosophy, Engineering & Theology: Gendered disciplines and projects of critical re-imagination
    with Ruby Grant, Lucy Tatman, Dirk Baltzly, Bernardo León de la Barra, and Rufus Black
    Women's Studies International Forum 86. 2021.
    Philosophy, theology and engineering are each characterised by striking, yet similar, low participation rates by female academics. While these disciplines seem very different, and so the diagnosis of the causes of this under-representation might likewise be expected to differ, we show a commonality of analysis in the diagnoses of, and responses to, women's under-representation. In each, we find a shared argument that concepts and methodologies central to that discipline are gendered male. We als…Read more
  •  11
    This paper examines potential ethical and legal issues arising during the research, develop- ment and clinical use of a proposed strategy in personalized medicine (PM): using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived tissue cultures as predictive models of individ- ual patients to inform treatment decisions. We focus on epilepsy treatment as a likely early application of this strategy, for which early-stage stage research is underway. In relation to the research process, we examine issu…Read more
  •  4
    Relational Agency and Neurotechnology: Developing and Deploying Competency through Intricate Partnerships
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 13 (1): 162-166. 2020.
    Timothy Brown's piece "Building Intricate Partnerships with Neurotechnology" makes a valuable contribution to ethical discussion of questions about human identity and agency raised by Deep Brain Stimulation. The paper brings together a number of relational approaches to narrative identity and autonomy, drawing on first-personal empirical accounts, to extend a relational account of agency to include neurostimulators. In doing so, it builds on the contributions relational approaches have made to m…Read more