Saturday, March 7
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tahoma Room, Commencement Hall, University of Puget Sound
Followed by a NeuroArt Workshop
5:00-6:30 p.m.
8:30 - 9 a.m. Registration with coffee and bagels
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Introductory remarks
9:30 - 11 a.m.
Ethical Challenges in the Treatment of Long-Term Mental Illness
Moderator
Lisa Fortlouis Wood, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Puget Sound
Panelists
Bob Winslow, Member, National Alliance on Mental Illness
Lee Carlisle, MD, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Joy Gimlett, ARNP, Comprehensive Life Resources, Tacoma
This panel will address four major issues in treatment of serious mental illness: the experience of family members; confidentiality and access to treatment; cultural factors that must be handled with sensitivity; and ethical challenges in providing effective pharmaceutical treatment.
11:00 - 11:20 a.m. Coffee break
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and the Brain
Moderator
Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD, Jennie M. Caruthers Chair in Neuroscience, Assistant Professor, Biology, University of Puget Sound
Panelists
Ann Fink, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, NYU Center for Neural Science
Courtney Stevens, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Willamette University
The panel will bring up ethical issues pertaining to brain research with regards to gender differences and those related to differences in socioeconomic status. Implicit bias inherent to researchers and biological deterministic theories will be addressed.
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:45 - 3 p.m.
Brain-to-Brain Interface: Whose Self? Whose Identity?
Panelists
Eran Klein, PhD, Staff Neurologist, Portland VA Medical Center; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University; Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Washington.
Sara Goering, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy & the Program on Values, Head of the Ethics Thrust for the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, University of Washington
Suzanne Holland, PhD, John B. Magee Professor of Science & Values, Professor of Religion, University of Puget Sound
A recent press release reported the first ever brain-to-brain interface in humans. When the first individual formed an intention to move his finger, his brain activity was transmitted wirelessly across campus to the stimulating skull cap of his friend, causing his finger to move. A central concern raised by this demonstration of a brain-to-brain interface--and potential medical or rehabilitation applications to follow--is the threat to human agency. Agency involves our ability to control what we do, to be agents who act on the world. If someone's intentions can control another's body, even if not completely, by altering what happens in the brain, then agency is potentially put at risk.
3:00 - 3:20 p.m. Coffee break
3:30 - 4:45 p.m.
Identity and Mobility After Spinal Cord Injury
Moderator
Jennifer Hastings, PT, PhD, NCS, Professor and Director, School of Physical Therapy, University of Puget Sound
Speaker
Lynn A. Worobey, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh
Panelists
A panel of individuals living with spinal cord injury: Corey Obungen, Emma Larson, and Aaron Hastings
They will explore the question of how and why walking defines identity after spinal cord injury. They will look at the state of the current science in walking recovery and contemplate who makes the decisions about how to focus rehabilitation after SCI.
4:45 - 5 p.m. Break
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
NeuroArt Workshop: DIY Perspectives on Neuroscience
Artist
Aisen Caro Chacin, MFA, Parsons, The School of Design, New York
While scientific research on humans has many checks and balances, the same cannot be said for art. Through an interactive workshop that allows remote control of an individual vestibular system, the artist will address questions of ethics, the power of DIY, and the question of regulation.
Note: Space limited to 20 participants; audience of 25.