The practices of do-it-yourself brain stimulation: implications for ethical considerations and regulatory proposals

Journal of Medical Ethics
Anna Wexler

Abstract

Scientists and neuroethicists have recently drawn attention to the ethical and regulatory issues surrounding the do-it-yourself (DIY) brain stimulation community, which comprises individuals stimulating their own brains with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for self-improvement. However, to date, existing regulatory proposals and ethical discussions have been put forth without engaging those involved in the DIY tDCS community or attempting to understand the nature of their practices. I argue that to better contend with the growing ethical and safety concerns surrounding DIY tDCS, we need to understand the practices of the community. This study presents the results of a preliminary inquiry into the DIY tDCS community, with a focus on knowledge that is formed, shared and appropriated within it. I show that when making or acquiring a device, DIYers (as some members call themselves) produce a body of knowledge that is completely separate from that of the scientific community, and share it via online forums, blogs, videos and personal communications. However, when applying tDCS, DIYers draw heavily on existing scientific knowledge, posting links to academic journal articles and scientific resources and adopting the sta...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 4, 2016·Brain Stimulation·Marom BiksonAdam J Woods
May 25, 2016·Annals of Neurology·Rachel WurzmanMichael D Fox
Jan 24, 2017·Scientific Reports·Zsolt TuriAndrea Antal
Jan 24, 2020·The American Journal of Gastroenterology·Chiazotam EkekezieColleen R Kelly
Oct 24, 2019·AJOB Neuroscience·Karola V Kreitmair
May 26, 2017·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Dylan J EdwardsAlvaro Pascual-Leone
Jan 3, 2020·Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies·Wessel TeunisseMarkus Schmidt
Sep 22, 2020·Brain Communications·Shujhat Khan, Tipu Aziz
Apr 27, 2017·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Jan-Hendrik Heinrichs
Jan 29, 2019·Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology·Jean-Pascal Lefaucheur

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