Affiliations: Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford
University, CA, USA | Department of Radiology, Stanford University, CA,
USA | Program in Neuroscience, Stanford University, CA,
USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Judy Illes, Ph.D., Senior Research
Scholar, Director, Program in Neuroethics, Stanford Center for Biomedical
Ethics, and Department of Radiology, Stanford, CA 94305-5748, USA. Tel.: +1 650
724 6393; Fax: +1 650 725 6131; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This paper concerns the ethics of human neuromodulation using
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We examine the challenges of
modulating the brain with TMS through the research ethics lens and in clinical
medicine for treating frank pathology, primarily in psychiatric diseases. We
also consider contemporary issues raised in the neuroethics literature about
managing unexpected findings, and relate these to TMS and to other frontier
neurotechnology that is becoming openly available in the public domain. We
argue that safety and informed consent are of paramount importance for TMS, but
that personal values and sociocultural factors must also be considered when
examining the promise of this technology and applications that ought to be
highlighted for extra precautions.
