Featured article: Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology

Look how The Guardian, Scientific American and Die Welt, among others press outlets, picked up this paper, which by analysing the relationship between neuroscience and human rights, identifies four new rights that may become of great relevance in the coming decades.

Life Sciences, Society and Policy

Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology

Marcello IencaEmail author View ORCID ID profile and
Roberto Andorno

Life Sciences, Society and Policy201713:5

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1

Received: 20 October 2016
Accepted: 20 March 2017
Published: 26 April 2017

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.