Gray Matters Volume II Released by Presidential Commission

The highly-anticipated second volume of Gray Matters: Topics at the Intersection of Neuroscience, Ethics, and Society was released by the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on March 26th. This report is in “response to President Obama’s request related to the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.”

According to the Commission’s announcement, in this volume “the Bioethics Commission broadly focused its analysis on three particularly controversial topics that illustrate the ethical tensions and societal implications of advancing neuroscience and technology: cognitive enhancement, consent capacity, and neuroscience and the legal system.”



“In its latest release, the Bioethics Commission seeks to clarify the scientific landscape, identify common ground, and recommend ethical paths forward. Cautioning against hyperbole and misinformation when discussing the promise of neuroscience, the report offers 14 recommendations to help clear a path to productive discourse.”

The full report can be read here.

Eleven members of the AJOB Neuroscience editorial board made presentations for the Bioethics Commission: Anjan Chatterjee, Martha Farah, Paul Ford, Hank Greely, Joshua Greene, Steven Hyman, Stephen Morse, Eric Racine, Peter Reiner, Adina Roskies, Paul Root Wolpe.