Current Projects
Psychiatric Neurosurgery – Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues
Psychiatric neurosurgery (PNS) is defined as neurosurgery for treating psychiatric disorders, which are not directly caused by brain diseases like brain tumours or epileptogenic tissues and whose biological underpinnings are unknown. Contemporary PNS procedures include deep brain stimulation (DBS) and ablative neurosurgical procedures. Although these modern forms of psychiatric neurosurgery have lesser adverse effects and risks, and are more precise due to neuroimaging studies, many ethical issues remain. For example, is it justified to intervene in the brain of mentally ill patients with the aim to change their personality and behaviour? How is the risk-benefit-ratio for the patients? For which kinds of disorders can the use of PNS be justified – also for drug addiction or anorexia nervosa? In addition, many legal questions are open. The legislation with regard to PNS differs significantly across the countries. We will investigate these issues in a broader social context with a particular focus on economic interests, and the role of the media and social media. Our international project will investigate ethical, legal, and societal issues of all kinds of contemporary psychiatric neurosurgery. We will publish recommendations for a responsible use of PNS.
The project is in part funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Completed projects
- NeuroSCAN: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Norms in Neuroimaging
Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Henrik Walter, Charité Berlin
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Dr. Tade M. Spranger
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2008-2011) - Mediale Bildwelten und Neurowissenschaften
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Dr. Tade M. Spranger
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2012-2014) - The reverential treatment of the human corpse in the context of burial and burial in the intersection of ethics and law
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Dr. Tade M. Spranger
Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (2012-2013) - Mediale Bildwelten und Neurowissenschaften 2.0
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Dr. Tade M. Spranger
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2015-2016)