Viewing the rise of cognitive enhancement as “imminent and inevitable,” the British Medical Association released a paper this week surveying the ethical challenges prompted by our pursuit of better memory and focus. Said the chairman of the BMA’s medical ethics committee in a press release:
This is a fascinating area that has not been debated by the public. On the one hand, it may all seem very harmless how many of us take omega 3 supplements to prevent memory loss? On the other hand, we need to consider where this search for optimum brain performance will lead. Should drugs or medical procedures that are designed to treat medical conditions be used by healthy people who simply want to be better than normal?
We know that there is likely to be a demand by healthy individuals for this treatment. However given that no drug or invasive medical procedure is risk free, is it ethical to make them available to people who are not ill? Also, how much brain power is enough? There is a concern that there may be undue pressure, perhaps from employers, to ensure that workers are even more effective and productive. The BMA does not have the answers to these questions but we think it is very important that the issues are debated.
The BMA paper identifies five questions its authors regard as key about cognitive enhancement:
1. Should individuals be free to make their own decisions about the use of cognitive enhancements or are there good reasons to prevent them from doing so?
2. Should parents be free to choose cognitive enhancements for their existing or future children or are there good reasons to prevent them from doing so?
3. Should the same principles apply to all forms of cognitive enhancements or are there legitimate grounds to distinguish between methods? If there are good grounds, on what basis should decisions be made about the acceptability or otherwise of particular methods of cognitive enhancement?
4. What role, if any, should doctors play in providing and monitoring cognitive enhancements?
5. What, if any, regulation is needed?