Neurotransmitters: functions, types, and roles in the nervous system

Ethics

Neurotransmitters

One Pill makes you Smarter: An Ethical Appraisal of the Rise of Ritalin

The number of Americans using Ritalin has soared from 900,000 to almost 5 million

Children from ages 5 to 12

Stimulants have been used to treat children since 1937

Ritalin came on the market in the 1960's to teat hyperactivity

Rationales for Treatment

Growing willingness to treat a serious and common disorder

ADD is under diagnosed

Ritalin use could double

Ritalin very useful in treating ADD

Issues with drugging children

Why should children suffer?

Ritalin as a Means of Enhancement

The term drug carries with it a stigma

Quick fix to solve problems

Give up the rewarding journey

Equality and Competitiveness

Ritalin can provide genuine and legitimate advantages for those who use it

B. Advantages are not distributed fairly

C. Racial and Class disparities in Ritalin use

Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New Neuroscience Technologies and their Ethical Implications

I. The current decade will be remembered for the growth of neuroscience

A. Cognitive neuroscience raises questions about biological foundations

B. Bioethicists and neuroscientists are exploring social and ethical issues

II. Neuroethics encompasses a broad and varied set of bioethical issues

A. Safety of new research and treatment methods

B. Rationing of promising new therapies

C. Predictive testing for future illnesses

III. Brain Enhancement

A. Psychopharmacology of the mid twentieth century

1. Depended entirely on serendipity

2. Anti-depressants discovered to reduce psychosis

B. Technical advances in non-pharmaceutical methods for altering brain function

IV. Enhancement of Cognition

A. Ability to enhance cognition

1. Attention

2. Memory

V. Ethical Issues in Enhancement

A. Safety

B. More complex

VI. Pending Challenges

A. Technologies have developed rapidly

In the article, Monitoring and Manipulating Brain Function: New

Neuroscience Technologies and their Ethical Implications by Farah & Wolpe, the authors discuss the fact that it seems that the explosive growth Ritalin can be attributed to the drug being prescribed for children who exhibit fairly normal childlike behaviors. This really does appear to be true. If you look around you see more and more children being put on Ritalin when their behavior does not seem to be anything more children being children. It seems that parents are more and more taking the easy road out in order to control their children and not have to deal with them. Instead of parents stepping up to the plate and dealing with their kids and their problems they all choose to take the easy way out.