The assorted mystics, philosophers, theologians and, most recently, neuroscientists who have burned a candle searching for the essence of consciousness all started with a simple presumption: Consciousness must begin where unconsciousness ends. (New York Times)

He emerged from the car accident alive but alone, there and not there: a young man whose eyes opened yet whose brain seemed shut down. For five years he lay mute and immobile beneath a diagnosis — “vegetative state” — that all but ruled out the possibility of thought, much less recovery. (New York Times)

Researchers use a brain-scanning technique to find differences in the neural connections of PTSD patients that could help researchers understand and treat the disorder. (Scientific American)

NanoEthics (Volume 3, Number 3, December 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Moral Imagination, Trading Zones, and the Role of the Ethicist in Nanotechnology” by Michael E. Gorman, Patricia H. Werhane, and Nathan Swami; 185-195.
• “The Mind and the Machine. On the Conceptual and Moral Implications of Brain-Machine Interaction” by Maartje Schermer, 217-230.
• “Ambient Intelligence and Persuasive Technology: The Blurring Boundaries Between Human and Technology” by Peter-Paul Verbeek, 231-242.
• “Tensions and Opportunities in Convergence: Shifting Concepts of Disease in Emerging Molecular Medicine” by Marianne Boenink, 243-255.
• “Playing God in Frankenstein’s Foosteps: Synthetic Biology and the Meaning of Life” by Henk van den Belt, 257-268.

BioSocieties (Volume 4, Issue 04, December 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Informed Consent in Forensic DNA Databases: Volunteering, Constructions of Risk and Identity Categorization” by Helena Machado and Susana Silva, 335-348.
• “Models of Cloning, Models for the Zoo: Rethinking the Sociological Significance of Cloned Animals” by Carrie Friese, 367-390.
• “The Practice of Genetic Counselling- A Comparative Approach to Understanding Genetic Counselling in China” by Suli Sui, 391-405.
• “Changing Brains: The Emergence of the Field of Adult Neurogenesis” by Beatrix P. Rubin, 407-424.
• “The Cerebral Subject and the Challenge of Neurodiversity” by Francisco Ortega, 425-445.

In the shimmering fantasy realm of the hit movie “Avatar,” a paraplegic Marine leaves his wheelchair behind and finds his feet in a new virtual world thanks to “the link,” a sophisticated chamber that connects his brain to a surrogate alien, via computer. (CNN)

The widely publicized case of Rom Houben, a Belgian man who was inaccurately diagnosed as being in a vegetative state for more than two decades, highlights the serious problem of misdiagnosis in patients with disorders of consciousness. (Bioethics Forum)

U.S. researchers have found a drug-free way to block fearful memories, opening up the possibility of new treatment approaches for problems such as post traumatic stress disorder, they reported on Wednesday. (Reuters)

The notion that “the mind is what the brain does” is catching fire in academia, especially in the trendy area of neuroscience. In other words, you — your personality, your most intimate self, your dreams, your convictions — are electrical circuits sparking in your gray matter. Recently, New York Times pundit David Brooks informed us that: (MercatorNet)

The family of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman who was artificially kept alive for 15 years, say they feel both heartbreak and vindication over the news this week that a Belgian man thought to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) was fully conscious for two decades. (ABC News)

The Johns Hopkins neurologist and his colleagues had autopsied the brains of people with autism who died in accidents and found evidence of neuroinflammation. This rare look inside the autistic brain had the potential to increase understanding of the mysterious disorder. (Chicago Tribune)

Judy Illes has a dilemma. What happens when someone who has agreed to participate in a medical study undergoes a brain scan during which the researcher happens to discover an anomaly, a potential health risk? It’s a hypothetical quandary, but an example of the type of question Illes grapples with every day as the head of the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC. (Straight.com)

College students are using drugs.

Astonished? You should be. Academic doping - the usage of cognitive enhancing drugs - is compounding on college campuses, and preventative methods are unrealistic, suggests a study in the October edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics. (Medill News)

Archives of Neurology (Volume 66, Number 11, November 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Are Neurology Residents Prepared to Deal with Dying Patients?”

A 64-year-old woman with recurrent major depression has been seeing a community psychiatrist for about a year. She has had a moderately good response to an antidepressant and monthly supportive therapy. At her most recent visit, the patient was visibly distressed when she came into the office and began crying soon after she sat down. (Psychiatric Times)

Philosophy & Public Affairs (Volume 37, Issue 4, Fall 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles Include:

• “The Normative Insignificance of Neuroscience” by Selim Berker, 293-329.
• “Neuroscience and Moral Reasoning: A Note on Recent Research” by F.M. Kamm, 330-345.
• “Moral Status and Human Enhancement” by Allen Buchanan, 346-414.

Over the last year, the general public has learned a lot about the use of Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs by healthy people to improve alertness and concentration. And with that awareness there appears to be a growing acceptance, or at least resignation, as a series of recent publications strongly suggests. (Bioethics Forum)

Tuesday night’s neuroethics social was billed as a clash between two heavy hitters in cognitive neuroscience over a provocative question posed by session organizer (and referee) Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania: “Is brain imaging currently capable of something worthy of the term ‘mind reading’?” (Science Magazine)

A physician client of mine recently decided to undertake marketing efforts in an attempt to increase his patient base and enhance business. He retained the services of an ad agency to develop a campaign that would appear in newspapers. (New York Times)

Over the 100-year history of modern neuroscience, the way we think about the brain has evolved with the sophistication of the techniques available to study it. Improvements in microscope design and manufacture, together with the development of cell-staining techniques, afforded neuroscientists their first glimpse at the specialized cells that make up the nervous system. Microscopes with more magnifying power enabled them to probe nerve cells in greater detail, revealing distinct compartments. Newer techniques expose the connections between nerve cells, revealing the complex organization of the brain. (Technology Review)

As lab research on converting human embryonic stem (hES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into dopamine-producing neurons proceeds apace, there’s growing doubt in some quarters about whether cell transplants will ever show a clear benefit for Parkinson’s disease beyond what can be achieved by existing therapies. [Premium (Science Magazine)]