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Cited by 721Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical InnovationsEthics and Social Impacts of AILegal Rights and Human Rights

Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology

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Ienca, Marcello, Andorno, Roberto·2017·Life Sciences, Society and Policy
DOI 10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1PMC PMC5447561
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Abstract

Rapid advancements in human neuroscience and neurotechnology open unprecedented possibilities for accessing, collecting, sharing and manipulating information from the human brain. Such applications raise important challenges to human rights principles that need to be addressed to prevent unintended consequences. This paper assesses the implications of emerging neurotechnology applications in the context of the human rights framework and suggests that existing human rights may not be sufficient to respond to these emerging issues. After analysing the relationship between neuroscience and human rights, we identify four new rights that may become of great relevance in the coming decades: the right to cognitive liberty, the right to mental privacy, the right to mental integrity, and the right to psychological continuity.

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  • The noninvasive combination of ease of access, lower precision, and emphasis on recording means that the overall ethical picture will look rather different.

    “The noninvasive combination of ease of access, but lower precision and emphasis on recording, means that the overall ethical picture will look rather different [38].”

    From Ethical considerations for the use of brain–computer interfaces for cognitive enhancement (2024) · cites this paper as [38]

    The neurotechnology revolution section describes noninvasive, scalable consumer devices and widespread noninvasive recording. The mental privacy section links wider availability of brain recordings to privacy risks. But the paper does not establish that noninvasive technologies are generally less precise, and it also describes noninvasive devices that stimulate rather than record brain activity; it does not draw the claimed overall ethical comparison. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Brainjacking-where bad actors attempt to gain unauthorised access to neural data-is a threat.

    “Consider, for instance, the threat of “brainjacking”—where bad actors attempt to gain unauthorised (at least, indirect) access to what you are thinking by gaining access to neural data and data pertaining to which thought commands are implemented by the eBCI, or to your neural data more generally [37–40].”

    From Ethical considerations for the use of brain–computer interfaces for cognitive enhancement (2024) · cites this paper as [38]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ienca, M., & Andorno, R.
Affiliations
  • University of Basel (CH)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Ienca, Marcello
ORCID
Venue
Life Sciences, Society and Policy
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-04-26
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
5-5
ISSN
2195-7819 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1
PMC
PMC5447561
OpenAlex
W2604941166
Cited by
721
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 149 · 2025: 127 · 2024: 73 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 4
FWCI
22.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Life Sciences Society and Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Social Sciences › Law › Legal Rights and Human Rights
Keywords
neurotechnology, human rights, neuroscience, mental privacy, mental integrity, psychological continuity, brain data, emerging technologies
MeSH terms
Brain, Cognition, Freedom, Humans, Human Rights, Neurosciences, Privacy

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