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Abstract
Although a growing body of evidence suggests that noninvasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation have the capacity to enhance neural function in both brain-injured and neurally intact individuals, the implications of their potential use for cosmetic self-enhancement have not been fully explored. We review 3 areas in which noninvasive brain stimulation has the potential to enhance neurologic function: cognitive skills, mood, and social cognition. We then characterize the ethical problems that affect the practice of cosmetic neurology, including safety, character, justice, and autonomy, and discuss how these problems may apply to the use of noninvasive brain stimulation for self-enhancement.
Footnotes
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- DLPFC
- dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
- LATL
- left anterior temporal lobe
- RAT
- remote association test
- rTMS
- repetitive TMS
- tDCS
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- TMS
- transcranial magnetic stimulation
- Received May 26, 2010.
- Accepted August 30, 2010.
- Copyright © 2011 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
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