Implanted Minds

Intracerebral interventions raise particular ethical issues. For instance, attempts at replacing lost or altered brain cells with the help of stem cells or the therapeutic application of Deep Brain Stimulation would have morally relevant implications. Many medically relevant questions and ethical concerns need to be clarified before these intracerebral interventions can become routine procedure: If the brain is conceived as the carrier of an individual's personality or of the self then operations on the brain can be seen as intrusions upon one's personality. The book addresses historical, philosophical, social and legal implications of these new developments in the neurosciences and aims at resolving some of the dilemmas that go hand in hand with 'implanted minds'.

Heiner Fangerau (Prof. Dr. med., Dr. h.c. ML) is university professor for history, theory and ethics of medicine at the Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf. Jörg M. Fegert (Prof. Dr.) is director of the Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ulm University, Germany. Thorsten Trapp (Dr.) is senior researcher at the Institute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Düsseldorf University, Germany.