•  270
    There is currently little empirical information about attitudes towards cognitive enhancement - the use of pharmaceutical drugs to enhance normal brain functioning. It is claimed this behaviour most commonly occurs in students to aid studying. We undertook a qualitative assessment of attitudes towards cognitive enhancement by conducting 19 semi-structured interviews with Australian university students. Most students considered cognitive enhancement to be unacceptable, in part because they believ…Read more
  •  113
    Views of Addiction Neuroscientists and Clinicians on the Clinical Impact of a 'Brain Disease Model of Addiction'
    with Stephanie Bell, Adrian Carter, Rebecca Mathews, Coral Gartner, and Jayne Lucke
    Neuroethics 7 (1): 19-27. 2013.
    Addiction is increasingly described as a “chronic and relapsing brain disease”. The potential impact of the brain disease model on the treatment of addiction or addicted individuals’ treatment behaviour remains uncertain. We conducted a qualitative study to examine: (i) the extent to which leading Australian addiction neuroscientists and clinicians accept the brain disease view of addiction; and (ii) their views on the likely impacts of this view on addicted individuals’ beliefs and behaviour. T…Read more
  •  107
    Ethical Issues Raised by Proposals to Treat Addiction Using Deep Brain Stimulation
    with Adrian Carter, Emily Bell, and Eric Racine
    Neuroethics 4 (2): 129-142. 2010.
    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proposed as a potential treatment of drug addiction on the basis of its effects on drug self-administration in animals and on addictive behaviours in some humans treated with DBS for other psychiatric or neurological conditions. DBS is seen as a more reversible intervention than ablative neurosurgery but it is nonetheless a treatment that carries significant risks. A review of preclinical and clinical evidence for the use of DBS to treat addiction suggests t…Read more
  •  94
    Addiction, neuroscience and ethics
    Addiction 98 (7): 867-870. 2003.
    If one believes that the brain is, in some as yet unspecified way, the organ of mind and behaviour, then all human behaviour has a neurobiological basis. Neuroscience research over the past several decades has provided more specific reasons for believing that many addictive phenomena have a neurobiological basis. The major psychoactive drugs of dependence have been shown to act on neurotransmitter systems in the brain (Nutt 1997; Koob 2000); common neurochemical mechanisms underlie many of the r…Read more
  •  85
    Impaired control over drug use is a defining characteristic of addiction in the major diagnostic systems. However there is significant debate about the extent of this impairment. This qualitative study examines the extent to which leading Australian addiction neuroscientists and clinicians believe that addicted individuals have control over their drug use and are responsible for their behaviour. One hour semi-structured interviews were conducted during 2009 and 2010 with 31 Australian addiction …Read more
  •  76
    The authors comments on several articles on addiction. Research suggests that addicted individuals have substantial impairments in cognitive control of behavior. The authors maintain that a proper study of addiction must include a neurobiological model of addiction to draw the attention of bioethicists and addiction neurobiologists. They also state that more addiction neuroscientists like S. E. Hyman are needed as they understand the limits of their research. Accession Number: 24077921; Authors:…Read more
  •  71
    Drug-Induced Impulse Control Disorders: A Prospectus for Neuroethical Analysis
    with Adrian Carter and Polly Ambermoon
    Neuroethics 4 (2): 91-102. 2010.
    There is growing evidence that dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) used to treat Parkinson’s Disease can cause compulsive behaviours and impulse control disorders (ICDs), such as pathological gambling, compulsive buying and hypersexuality. Like more familiar drug-based forms of addiction, these iatrogenic disorders can cause significant harm and distress for sufferers and their families. In some cases, people treated with DRT have lost their homes and businesses, or have been prosecuted for crimi…Read more
  •  68
    Addiction and autonomy: What can neuroscience tell us
    with A. Carter
    11th Annual Conference of the Australasian Bioethics Association. forthcoming.
  •  60
    Neuroscience research has improved our understanding of the long term consequences of sports-related concussion, but ethical issues related to the prevention and management of concussion are an underdeveloped area of inquiry. This article exposes several examples of conflicts of interest that have arisen and been tolerated in the management of concussion in sport (particularly professional football codes) regarding the use of computerized neuropsychological (NP) tests for diagnosing concussion. …Read more
  •  57
    Begging important questions about cognitive enhancement, again
    with Jonathan Finnoff, Jayne Lucke, and Brad Partridge
    American Journal of Bioethics 11 (1). 2011.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  46
    Ethical Concerns in the Community About Technologies to Extend Human Life Span
    with Brad Partridge, Mair Underwood, Jayne Lucke, and Helen Bartlett
    American Journal of Bioethics 9 (12): 68-76. 2009.
    Debates about the ethical and social implications of research that aims to extend human longevity by intervening in the ageing process have paid little attention to the attitudes of members of the general public. In the absence of empirical evidence, conflicting assumptions have been made about likely public attitudes towards life-extension. In light of recent calls for greater public involvement in such discussions, this target article presents findings from focus groups and individual intervie…Read more
  •  46
    Lewis’ neurodevelopmental model provides a plausible alternative to the brain disease model of addiction that is a dominant perspective in the USA. We disagree with Lewis’ claim that the BDMA is unchallenged within the addiction field but we agree that it provides unduly pessimistic prospects of recovery. We question the strength of evidence for the BDMA provided by animal models and human neuroimaging studies. We endorse Lewis’ framing of addiction as a developmental process underpinned by reve…Read more
  •  45
    Public Understandings of Addiction: Where do Neurobiological Explanations Fit?
    with Carla Meurk, Adrian Carter, and Jayne Lucke
    Neuroethics 7 (1): 51-62. 2013.
    Developments in the field of neuroscience, according to its proponents, offer the prospect of an enhanced understanding and treatment of addicted persons. Consequently, its advocates consider that improving public understanding of addiction neuroscience is a desirable aim. Those critical of neuroscientific approaches, however, charge that it is a totalising, reductive perspective–one that ignores other known causes in favour of neurobiological explanations. Sociologist Nikolas Rose has argued th…Read more
  •  34
    Analysis of socio-political and health practices influencing sex ratio at birth in viet Nam
    with Pham Bang Nguyen, Wayne Hall, Peter S. Hill, and Chalapati Rao
    Viet Nam has experienced rapid social change over the last decade, with a remarkable decline in fertility to just below replacement level. The combination of fertility decline, son preference, antenatal sex determination using ultrasound and sex selective abortion are key factors driving increased sex ratios at birth in favour of boys in some Asian countries. Whether or not this is taking place in Viet Nam as well is the subject of heightened debate. In this paper, we analyse the nature and dete…Read more
  •  33
    As the world's population ages, governments and non-governmental organizations in developed countries are promoting healthy cognitive ageing to reduce the rate of age-related cognitive decline and sustain economic productivity in an ageing workforce. Recommendations from the Productivity Commission, Dementia Australia, Government Office for Science, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, Institute of Medicine, among others, are encouraging older adults to engage in mental, p…Read more
  •  29
    A Bio-Social and Ethical Framework for Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
    with Carla Meurk and Jayne Lucke
    Neuroethics 7 (3): 337-344. 2014.
    The diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is embedded in a matrix of biological, social and ethical processes, making it an important topic for crossdisciplinary social and ethical research. This article reviews different branches of research relevant to understanding how FASD is identified and defined and outlines a framework for future social and ethical research in this area. We outline the character of scientific research into FASD, epidemiological discrepancies between reported patt…Read more
  •  26
    Drug Legalization is Not a Masterstroke for Addressing Racial Inequality
    American Journal of Bioethics 21 (4): 44-46. 2021.
    Brian Earp and colleagues argue that the major harms associated with the use of illicit drugs largely arise from, or are at least exacerbated by, the fact that their use attracts criminal pe...
  •  25
    Avoiding Selective Ethical Objections to Nudges
    American Journal of Bioethics 12 (2): 12-14. 2012.
    The American Journal of Bioethics, Volume 12, Issue 2, Page 12-14, February 2012
  •  24
    Deflating the Neuroenhancement Bubble
    with Jayne C. Lucke, Stephanie Bell, and Brad Partridge
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 2 (4): 38-43. 2011.
  •  24
    Mapping Community Concerns About Radical Extensions of Human Life Expectancy
    with Brad Partridge, Jayne Lucke, Mair Underwood, and Helen Bartlett
    American Journal of Bioethics 9 (12): 4-5. 2009.
    Debates about the ethical and social implications of research that aims to extend human longevity by intervening in the ageing process have paid little attention to the attitudes of members of the general public. In the absence of empirical evidence, conflicting assumptions have been made about likely public attitudes towards life-extension. In light of recent calls for greater public involvement in such discussions, this target article presents findings from focus groups and individual intervie…Read more
  •  24
    A “cocaine vaccine” is a promising immunotherapeutic approach to treating cocaine dependence which induces the immune system to form antibodies that prevent cocaine from crossing the blood brain barrier to act on receptor sites in the brain. Studies in rats show that cocaine antibodies block cocaine from reaching the brain and prevent the reinstatement of cocaine self administration. A successful phase 1 trial of a human cocaine vaccine has been reported. The most promising application of a coca…Read more
  •  24
    Direct-to-Consumer Genome-Wide Scans: Astrologicogenomics or Simple Scams?
    with Coral Gartner
    American Journal of Bioethics 9 (6-7): 54-56. 2009.
    No abstract
  •  23
    Ethical Guidelines for Genetic Research on Alcohol Addiction and Its Applications
    with Audrey R. Chapman, Adrian Carter, Jonathan M. Kaplan, and Kylie Morphett
    Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 28 (1): 1-22. 2018.
    The misuse of alcohol inflicts a major toll on individual users, their families, and the wider society. This includes disruptions of family life, violence, absenteeism and problems in the workplace, child neglect and abuse, and excess morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization estimates that alcohol ranks eighth among global risk factors for death and is the third leading global risk factor for disease and disability. In the United States, alcohol dependence affects four to five perc…Read more
  •  21
    No abstract
  •  21
    Begging the Question: Presupposing That TMS Can Be Shown to Enhance Eyewitness Testimony
    with Jayne C. Lucke
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 1 (3): 34-35. 2010.
  •  21
    Constraints on Regulatory Options for Putatively Cognitive Enhancing Drugs
    with Brad Partridge and Jayne Lucke
    American Journal of Bioethics 13 (7): 35-37. 2013.
    No abstract
  •  21
    Lessons for Enhancement From the History of Cocaine and Amphetamine Use
    with Stephanie K. Bell and Jayne C. Lucke
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 3 (2): 24-29. 2012.
    Developments in neuroscience have raised the possibility that pharmaceuticals may be used to enhance memory, mood, and attention in people who do not have an illness or disorder, a practice known as “cognitive enhancement.” We describe historical experiences with two medicinal drugs for which similar enhancement claims were made, cocaine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and amphetamines in the mid 20th century. These drugs were initially introduced as medicinal agents in Europe and Nor…Read more
  •  20
    Head injuries are an inherent risk of participating in the major collision sports played in Australia. Protocols introduced by the governing bodies of these sports are ostensibly designed to improve player safety but do not prevent players suffering from repeated concussions. There is evidence that repeated traumatic brain injuries increase the risk of developing a number of long term problems but scientific and popular debates have largely focused on whether there is a causal link between concu…Read more
  •  20
    An Ethical Reevaluation: Where Are the Voices of Those With Anorexia Nervosa and Their Families?
    with Anthony Barnett and Adrian Carter
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 6 (4): 73-74. 2015.