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Neuroethics

Erschienen in:

01.07.2008 | Brief Communication

Freedom of Memory Today

verfasst von: Adam Kolber

Erschienen in: Neuroethics | Ausgabe 2/2008

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Abstract

Emerging technologies raise the possibility that we may be able to treat trauma victims by pharmaceutically dampening factual or emotional aspects of their memories. Such technologies raise a panoply of legal and ethical issues. While many of these issues remain off in the distance, some have already arisen. In this brief commentary, I discuss a real-life case of memory erasure. The case reveals why the contours of our freedom of memory—our limited bundle of rights to control our memories and be free of outside control—already merit some attention.

We happen to live in a world where memory erasure is strange and peculiar. If it were more common, doctors might be sued for negligently failing to erase memories. Then, we would confront questions about the valuation of traumatic memories that could have been erased but were not due to a physician’s failure to erase memories in a timely fashion.

There is even a growing field of “relaxation” dentistry that takes advantage of memory dampening techniques. According to an article in the New York Times, “[i]n the last five years, thousands of dentists have been trained to administer drugs to anxious patients using medications that doctors say create a mild amnesia for patients who are awake, but not necessarily alert, and may forget the whole experience or have only vague recollections” [9].

Kolber, A.J. 2006. Therapeutic forgetting: The legal and ethical implications of memory dampening. Vanderbilt Law Review 59: 1561–1626.

Haig, S. 2007. The ethics of erasing a bad memory. Time (online edition, Oct. 15, 2007), http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1671492,00.html.

Remembering and Forgetting: Physiological and Pharmacological Aspects: Hearings Before the President’s Council on Bioethics (Oct. 17, 2002), http://bioethics.gov/transcripts/oct02/session3.html; Remembering and Forgetting: Psychological Aspects: Hearings Before the President’s Council on Bioethics (Oct. 17, 2002), http://bioethics.gov/transcripts/oct02/session4.html; Beyond Therapy: Better Memories?: Hearings Before the President’s Council on Bioethics (Mar. 6, 2003), http://bioethics.gov/transcripts/march03/session4.html.

Pitman, R.K. et al. 2002. Pilot study of secondary prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder with propranolol. Biological Psychiatry 51: 189–192.CrossRef

Vaiva, G. et al. 2003. Immediate treatment with propranolol decreases posttraumatic stress disorder two months after trauma. Biological Psychiatry 54: 947–949.CrossRef

Cahill, L., and J.L. McGaugh. 1995. A novel demonstration of enhanced memory associated with emotional arousal. Consciousness & Cognition 4: 410–421.CrossRef

Physicians’ Desk Reference. 2006.

Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General. 2005. Review of state variances in VA disability compensation claims, Rep. No. 05–00765–137, http://www.va.gov/oig/52/reports/2005/VAOIG-05–00765–137.pdf.

Kershaw, S. 2008. My root canal? It’s a blur. New York Times, Mar. 6, 2008, G1.

10.

President’s Council on Bioethics. 2003. Beyond therapy: Biotechnology and the pursuit of happiness, http://bioethics.gov.

Titel: Freedom of Memory Today
verfasst von: Adam Kolber
Publikationsdatum: 01.07.2008
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Neuroethics / Ausgabe 2/2008
Print ISSN: 1874-5490
Elektronische ISSN: 1874-5504
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-008-9011-y

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