BRAINMACHINE INTERFACES FROM BENCH TO HEADLINE Cognitive Systems

BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACES FROM BENCH TO HEADLINE Cognitive Systems: Human Cognitive Models in System Design Sandia National Laboratories University of New Mexico United States Naval Research Laboratory Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 6 -8, 2005 Eric Racine, Ph. D Center for Biomedical Ethics Stanford University Neuroethics Imaging Group

OBJECTIVES 1. Introduce to ethics in neuroscience research 2. Identify and analyze potential pitfalls and solutions in science communication 3. Discuss the role of communication and public involvement in ethics

PLAN Background • Neuroethics • Science communication Case analysis • Ratbot case • Preliminary results Implications • Revisite traditional model of science communication • Explore implications

NEUROETHICS & SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

FRONTIER NEUROTECHNOLOGY Brain-Machine Interfaces Neuropharmacology Neurogenetics Neuroimaging DESCRIPTION SAMPLE ISSUES Safety, reliability. Advances in functional interfaces. Consent of vulnerable patients. Development of specific molecules. Smart drugs, enhancement of normal function and cosmetic neurology. Development of Stigma of psychiatric and neurological diseases. neurogenetic tests. Advances in structural and functional imaging. Access to BMIs. Discrimination. Incidental findings. Respect for privacy.

HOW WE USUALLY THINK OF SCIENCE COMMUNICATION EXPERTISE MODEL The Neuroscience Community Media and Science Popularization Public and Stakeholders

CASE STUDY

S. K. Talwar, S. Xu, E. S. Hawley, S. A. Weiss, K. A. Moxon & J. K. Chapin. Rat navigation guided by remote control (May 2, 2002). Nature 417: 37 -38 • Subtitle: “Free animals can be 'virtually' trained by microstimulating key areas of their brains”. • Findings/Implications: “Combined with electronic sensing and navigation technology, a guided rat can be developed into an effective 'robot' that will possess several natural advantages over current mobile robots. Moreover, the ability to receive brain sensory activity remotely and interpret it accurately could allow a guided rat to function as both a mobile robot and a biological sensor”.

T. Clarke. Here come the ratbots. (May 2, 2002). Nature • Subtitle: “Desire drives remote-controlled rodents”. • Findings/Implications: “Remote-controlled rats could soon be detecting earthquake survivors or leading bomb-disposal teams to buried land mines. Signals from a laptop up to 500 meters away make the rats run, climb, jump and even cross brightly lit open spaces, contrary to their instincts. (…) "They work for pleasure, " says Sanjiv Talwar (…) "The rat feels nirvana, " (…) Then 'ratbots' equipped with satellite positioning tags could be used as smart sensors. The research arm of the US defense department is funding the work”.

WHY THIS STORY? – Brain-machine interface research – Leading research team – Dual-use R&D – Study published in a highly visible journal – Covered by Nature’s news service – Highly-publicized case and availability of coverage – Distance in time – Led to debate on research ethics, researcher responsibility and BMI research

PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS Sample • Lexis. Nexis Academic • Keyword searches • N=43 original articles Coding Media coverage • Origin of article • Type of article • Source of publication • Funding source • Qualifications • Quoted people Content • Focus of article • Benefits • Ethical issues • Tone

COVERAGE

NEWS WIRES HEADLINES • Ratbots: Here they come to save the day!, Cox News Service, May 1, 2002. • US scientists use remote control to guide rats, Agence France Presse, May 1, 2002. • 'Remote controlled rats could lead to rodents searching disaster sights or tracking land mines, ' says Drexel researcher, Business Wire, May 2, 2002.

REPORTS HEADLINES – Computer-controlled rodents to the rescue, The Scotsman, May 2, 2002 – Hi-tech rats soon on bomb squad, The Advertiser, May 2, 2002 – Remote-control rats raise ethical issues for humans, Sacramento Bee, May 2, 2002 – From robo-rat to mind control, Montreal Gazette, May 2, 2002 – The animal research I can't defend: Roborats give serious scientists the chance to draw an ethical line, The Guardian, May 2, 2002

Articles (%) QUOTATIONS Quotations N Other researchers 15 Ethicists & lawyers 8 Interest groups 4 Policy-makers 1

Articles (%) ARTICLE FOCUS

LEAD PARAGRAPHS Articles (%) “Scientists have made remote-control rats with electrodes in their brains. They can command them to turn left or right, climb trees and navigate piles of rubble. Fitted with video cameras, they could search for disaster survivors (The Mirror, May 2, 2002)”.

TONE Articles (%) BENEFITS

Major Minor Articles (%) ETHICAL ISSUES

MAJOR ISSUES - ANIMAL RIGHTS • “Mary Beth Sweetland, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal-rights group based in Norfolk, Va. , was not impressed. "Rats are not Tonka trucks with whiskers, " she said (The Scotman, May 2, 2002)”. • “What's creepy about the robotized rats isn't that they're unhappy. It's that they're happy doing things no autonomous rat would do (Slate Magazine, May 9, 2002)”.

MAJOR ISSUES - MIND CONTROL AND HUMAN BMIs • “But what if some future implant, billed as a medical miracle, were also secretly encoded to direct thought, getting a person to think like Big Brother, or to work harder for managers at corporate control, or to follow the orders of a Mephistopheles (The Boston Globe, May 5, 2002)? ” • “Yet it isn't just the paranoid who worry that such technologies could be used for brain enhancement rather than therapy, or that the mating of mind and machine could turn people into something akin to roborats” (USA Today, May 2, 2002)”.

IMPACT • Criticial letters to newspaper editors (N=7) • Critical examination of BMI research in Nature and following debate Neuroengineering: Remote control. Could wiring up soldiers' brains to the fighting machines they control be the future face of warfare? (Hoag H. Nature. 2003 Jun 19; 423(6942): 796 -8). Silence of the neuroengineers. (Editorial. Nature. 2003 Jun 19; 423(6942): 787). Military-funded research is not unethical (Rizzuto DS, Breznen B, Greger B. 2003. Nature. Jul 24; 424(6947): 369). Military: brain machine could benefit millions (Rudolph A. 2003. Nature. Jul 24; 424(6947): 369).

LIMITATIONS • Small N • One case • Print media • Lexis. Nexis

REVISITING COMMUNICATION & ETHICS

HOW WE USUALLY THINK OF SCIENCE COMMUNICATION EXPERTISE MODEL The Neuroscience Community Media and Science Popularization Public and Stakeholders

REVISITING COMMUNICATION & ETHICS Assumptions of expertise model Insights from this study Communication initiated by isolated researchers Communication leads to involvement of multiple actors Researchers are experts Researchers make “ordinary people” comments Science is a community Media can emphasize scientific controversies and debates Distortion of message should be avoided Some distortion is unavoidable Scientists control content Scientists are one source of information

REVISITING COMMUNICATION & ETHICS Assumptions of expertise model Insights from this study Science is objective Science brings speculation and overinterpretation Science is rational and free of value Science includes applications and values sustaining them Science brings reactions based on personal belief and culture Science is driven by knowledge Applications lead interest in science Science is a discourse of experts Science is a social discourse Communication is unidirectional Flow of information is multidirectional

MULTIDIRECTIONAL MODEL - ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS • Understanding and attending to multiple sources of information • Understanding the origins of ethical issues to give insight into the ethics • Recognizing pluralism and diversity • Promoting approaches taking into account pluralism and public discussion from the onset

MULTIDIRECTIONAL MODEL Media and Science Popularization The Neuroscience Community Inquiry and Debate Humanities and Social Sciences Public and Stakeholders Racine et al. 2005 Nat. Rev. Neuro.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Judy Illes, Ph. D Sarah Waldman Neuroethics Imaging Group Supported by NIH/NINDS R 01 #NS 045831 (J. I. ), SSHRC (E. R. ) Please visit http: //neuroethics. stanford. edu

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION & NEUROETHICS Neuroscience Exciting domain of research and technology. Bioethics Social science What risks and concerns are communicated? How? By whom? Are there broader social issues in neuroscience communication?