Neuroethics encompasses the myriad ways in which developments in basic and clinical neuroscience intersect with social and ethical issues. The field is so young that any attempt to define its scope and limits now will undoubtedly be proved wrong in the future, as neuroscience develops and its implications continue to be revealed. At present, however, we can discern two general categories of neuroethical issue: those emerging from what we can do and those emerging from what we know.

The "what we can do" problems
In the first category are the ethical problems raised by advances in functional neuroimaging, psychopharmacology, brain implants and brain-machine interfaces.

Brain imaging
Pharmaceutical enhancement of cognition
Pharmaceutical enhancement of mood and related functions
Brain-machine interfaces and nonpharmacologic enhancement

The "what we know" problems
In the second category are the ethical problems raised by our growing understanding of the neural bases of behavior, personality, consciousness, and states of spiritual transcendence.

Responsibility
Science and the soul
The consciousness continuum

General overviews of neuroethics

Ackerman, S.J. (2006). Hard Science, Hard Choices: Facts, Ethics and Policies Guiding Brain Science Today. Dana Press.

Blank, R.H. (1999). Brain Policy: How the New Neuroscience Will Shape Our Lives and Our Politics. Georgetown University Press.

Farah, M. (2002). Emerging ethical issues in neuroscience. Nature Neuroscience, 5: 1123-1129.

Farah, M.J. (2005). Neuroethics: the practical and the philosophical. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9 (1): 34-40.

Foster, K.R., Wolpe P.R. and Caplan, A.L. (2003). Bioethics and the brain. IEEE Spectrum.

Gazzaniga, M.S. (2005). The Ethical Brain. Dana Press.

Glannon, W. (Ed.) (2007). Defining Right and Wrong in Brain Science: Essential Readings in Neuroethics. New York: Dana Press.

Glannon, W. (2007). Bioethics and the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press.

Illes, J. (Ed.) (2005). Neuroethics: Defining the Issues in Theory, Practice and Policy.  Oxford U. Press.

Levy, N. (2007). Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press.

Moreno J.D. (2003). Neuroethics: an agenda for neuroscience and society. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4 (2): 149-153.

Marcus, S.J. (2002). Neuroethics: Mapping the Field. Dana Press.

Roskies, A. (2002). Neuroethics for the new millennium. Neuron, 35: 21-23.

Raeymaekers, P., Rondia, K., and Slob, M. (2004). Connecting Brains and Society: The Present and Future of Brain Science: What is Possible, What is Desirable? King Baudouin Foundation.

Tips for accessing the literature through our links:

1. Citations with stars (*) link to readings that assume some degree of expertise in neuroscience, medicine or law. Unstarred readings are suitable for an educated lay audience.
2. There is some excellent coverage of neuroethics in the popular press, which we have not attempted to track here. You can access this rapidly changing literature on your own through search engines and through other websites such as the Dana Foundation's "Brain in the News" page and the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics' "Top News" page.
3. If you have access to electronic journals through an institutional library, we recommend working with two windows open: one for viewing the reference citations here, and one for accessing and downloading the papers you want.