The latest discoveries in neuroscience – in imaging, in genetics, in the understanding of the mechanisms of mental illness – bring with them new and complex ethical, social and legal implications. The European Neuroscience and Society Network (ENSN), an ESF Research Networking Programme, brings together social scientists and neuroscientists for sustained, crossdisciplinary examination of some of the questions raised by new research.
- In laboratory animals, brain development is intrinsically related to stimulus from the environment and maternal care. But how does that translate to human infants?
- Brain imaging techniques are used as lie detectors. But what is deception, and what actually defines the truth?
- Biomarkers might provide a link between inheritance and future psychiatric disorder. But what are the social implications of such evidence?
ESF provides the scientific, administrative and technical secretariat for COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).