Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-04-2023 | Original Paper

The Ethics of Memory Modification: Personal Narratives, Relational Selves and Autonomy

Author: Przemysław Zawadzki

Published in: Neuroethics | Issue 1/2023

Abstract

For nearly two decades, ethicists have expressed concerns that the further development and use of memory modification technologies (MMTs)—techniques allowing to intentionally and selectively alter memories—may threaten the very foundations of who we are, our personal identity, and thus pose a threat to our well-being, or even undermine our “humaneness.” This paper examines the potential ramifications of memory-modifying interventions such as changing the valence of targeted memories and selective deactivation of a particular memory as these interventions appear to be at the same time potentially both most promising clinically as well as menacing to identity. However, unlike previous works discussing the potential consequences of MMTs, this article analyzes them in the context of the narrative relational approach to personal identity and potential issues related to autonomy. I argue that such a perspective brings to light the ethical aspects and moral issues arising from the use of MMTs that have been hidden from previously adopted approaches. In particular, this perspective demonstrates how important the social context in which an individual lives is for the ethical evaluation of a given memory-modifying intervention. I conclude by suggesting that undertaking memory modifications without taking into account the social dimension of a person’s life creates the risk that she will not be able to meet one of the basic human needs—the autonomous construction and maintenance of personal identity. Based on this conclusion, I offer some reflections on the permissibility and advisability of MMTs and what these considerations suggest for the future.

PTSD is a psychological disorder which has dramatic consequences for a daily life of affected person. It is characterized by heightened noradrenergic signaling [30], highly disruptive traumatic memories, avoidance, and increased arousal and stress response [31]. In PTSD traumatic memories are constantly retrieved even in non-threatening (neutral) situations, triggering re-experiencing of the trauma. Re-experiencing can involve intrusive and vivid episodic memory of the traumatic experience and evoke adverse emotions associated with it [32]. Finally, PTSD can lead to the development of associated pathologies such as depression, aggression, substance abuse and high risk of suicidal behaviors [31].

Although it is worth noting that the first clinical trial for neurodegenerative disease in humans has already been successfully carried out—optogenetics allowed to partially restore visual function in a patient with retinitis pigmentosa [43].

There is an ongoing discussion on whether using optogenetics as a therapeutic MMT will be possible in the future [1, 44‐50]. There are several threads in this debate: safety concerns [44, 47], technological obstacles to translating optogenetic techniques from animal models to humans [44, 47], and issues associated with the nature of memory, e.g., whether it will be possible to: control specific memory contents in human brains [44, 47], track complex autobiographical memories [44, 49], or selectively erase particular autobiographical memories due to their ‘non-local’ nature [44, 48, 50].

Optogenetics has been recently discussed as a tool that may help to solve conceptual puzzles regarding the nature of memory [51, 52].

This view seems to be gaining ground in recent debate [49, 55].

This ideal may not be universal for some time even in WEIRD cultures, as postmodernists have long suggested that we live in an age of fluid identity; like politicians, we create our selves for the current needs of the ‘social game,’ and the truth as a guide in the process of self-creation has long lost its privileged status.

This can be seen in the fact that Baylis claims that the intensity and frequency of disequilibrium partly depends on ‘the person’s skill in projecting who she is to herself as she lives her life,’ the definition of autonomy below and the discussion in the section “MMTs and Autonomy Concern: Internal and External Autonomy.”

Many thanks to the reviewer for this suggestion.

To see how this approach differs from proceduralist (a)historical and non-substantive analysis of autonomy, see [81].

Tarana Burke is the real name of the person who started the #MeToo movement. Although the above story is fictional, it was inspired by her life. The intention of choosing Tarana’s story as an inspiration to these considerations about ethical ramifications of MMTs is to be able to put them in the context of real-life choices of the person involved in actions with significant ethical weight for a large number of people.

Tarana Burke Biography (Accessed: 2021, December 19): https://www.biography.com/activist/tarana-burke

One reason that it may be the case can be due to the side-effect of the cognitive adaptation according to which strongly aversive experiences are categorized as of greater significance. Since detecting and responding to threats is necessary for survival, excessively negative experiences constitute especially strong memory traces, i.e., they are remembered better than neutral experiences and are reactivated in a wider collection of situational contexts, thereby undergoing through the process of reconsolidation more often. For this reason, these memories strongly influence how one perceives and forms associations with environmental stimuli and, ultimately, how one’s decisions are guided [82].

Although this effect was observed during the experiment, it was not systematically studied.

Deactivation, meaning that she can no longer retrieve them, although they may be recoverable through repeated intervention as, e.g., optogenetics effects may be, in principle, reversed.

Many thanks to the reviewer for suggesting this argument.

See Lavazza [94] for an in-depth discussion of this issue in the context of the ethics of memory modification.

Obviously, as discussed above, the fact that some memories continue to have such an effect on Tarana may not only be due to internal factors of her psychological constitution, but also to external factors—“the given,” i.e., that they may not be adequate and commonly accepted narrative templates in our culture for victims of sexual violence that would help them to work through their traumas.

This is the subjectivist component of Baylis account.

As the reviewer rightly pointed out: Since the narrative encompasses not just what happened in a person life but also the interpretation, meaning and relevance of those events for the person, there seems to be a room to reject the narrative on those levels. While in normal circumstances a person may be able to reject the interpretation and self-defining power of the event, in the case of traumatic memories, especially those underlying PTSD, the person may not possess this capacity.

Thanks to the reviewer for this insight.

Many thanks to the reviewer for the suggestion to clarify the concept of ‘community’ and this observation about Tarana, which prompted me to extend Baylis’ account.

DeScioli and Kurzban [102] argue that friendship evolved precisely to receive support in potential conflicts.

But see [24] for a more nuanced discussion of the permissibility of therapeutic MMTs.

Adamczyk, Agnieszka K., and Przemysław Zawadzki. 2020. The Memory-Modifying Potential of Optogenetics and the Need for Neuroethics. NanoEthics 14: 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11569-020-00377-1.CrossRef

Elsey, James, and Merel Kindt. 2016. Manipulating Human Memory Through Reconsolidation: Ethical Implications of a New Therapeutic Approach. AJOB Neuroscience 7: 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2016.1218377.CrossRef

Erler, Alexandre. 2011. Does Memory Modification Threaten Our Authenticity? Neuroethics 4: 235–249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-010-9090-4.CrossRef

Farah, Martha J., Judy Illes, Robert Cook-Deegan, Howard Gardner, Eric Kandel, Patricia King, Eric Parens, Barbara Sahakian, and Paul Root Wolpe. 2004. Neurocognitive enhancement: What can we do and what should we do? Nature Reviews Neuroscience 5: 421–425. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1390.CrossRef

Gligorov, Nada. 2016. Neuroethics and the scientific revision of common sense. New York: Springer.CrossRef

Henry, Michael, Jennifer R. Fishman, and Stuart J. Youngner. 2007. Propranolol and the Prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Is it Wrong to Erase the “Sting” of Bad Memories? The American Journal of Bioethics 7: 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265160701518474.CrossRef

Hui, Katrina, and Carl E. Fisher. 2015. The ethics of molecular memory modification. Journal of Medical Ethics 41: 515–520. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2013-101891.CrossRef

Iftode, Cristian, Alexandra Zorila, Alexandra, Constantin Vica, and Emilian Mihailov. 2022. Experimental and Relational Authenticity: How Neurotechnologies Impact Narrative Identities. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-022-09825-7.

Kass, Leon. 2003. Beyond therapy: Biotechnology and the pursuit of human improvement. The President’s Council on Bioethics.

10.

Kolber, Adam J. 2006. Therapeutic Forgetting: The Legal and Ethical Implications of Memory Dampening. Vanderbilt Law Review 59: 1561–1626.

11.

Kroes, Marijn C. W., and Rain Liivoja. 2019. Eradicating war memories: Neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns. International Review of the Red Cross 101: 69–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383118000437.CrossRef

12.

Lavazza, Andrea. 2018. Memory-modulation: Self-improvement or self-depletion? Frontiers in Psychology 9: 469. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00469.

13.

Lavazza, Andrea. 2019. Moral Bioenhancement Through Memory-editing: A Risk for Identity and Authenticity? Topoi 38: 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-017-9465-9.CrossRef

14.

Leuenberger, Muriel. 2022. Memory Modification and Authenticity: A Narrative Approach. Neuroethics 15: 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-022-09489-9.CrossRef

15.

Levy, Neil. 2007. Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811890.CrossRef

16.

Levy, Neil. 2011. Changing One’s Mind The Ethics of Memory Erasure in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. S&F_Scienzaefilosofia.it 5: 20–49.

17.

Liao, S. Matthew., and Anders Sandberg. 2008. The Normativity of Memory Modification. Neuroethics 1: 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-008-9009-5.CrossRef

18.

Liao, S. Matthew., and David T. Wasserman. 2007. Neuroethical Concerns about Moderating Traumatic Memories. The American Journal of Bioethics 7: 38–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265160701518623.CrossRef

19.

Parens, Erik. 2010. The Ethics of Memory Blunting: Some Initial Thoughts. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 4: 190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00190.CrossRef

20.

Wasserman, David. 2004. Making Memory Lose Its Sting. Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly 24: 12–18. https://doi.org/10.13021/G8pppq.242004.196.CrossRef

21.

Wolpe, Paul R. 2002. Treatment, enhancement, and the ethics of neurotherapeutics. Brain and Cognition 50: 387–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-2626(02)00534-1.CrossRef

22.

Vukov, Joseph. 2017. Enduring Questions and the Ethics of Memory Blunting. Journal of the American Philosophical Association 3(2): 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1017/apa.2017.23.CrossRef

23.

Zawadzki, Przemysław, and Agnieszka K. Adamczyk. 2021. Personality and authenticity in light of the memory-modifying potential of optogenetics. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866097.CrossRef

24.

Zawadzki, Przemysław, and Agnieszka K. Adamczyk. 2021. To remember, or not to remember? Potential impact of memory modification on narrative identity, personal agency, mental health, and well-being. Bioethics 35: 891–899. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12926.CrossRef

25.

Kindt, Merel. 2014. A behavioural neuroscience perspective on the aetiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy 62: 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2014.08.012.CrossRef

26.

Schiller, Daniela, Marie-H. Monfils, Candace M. Raio, David C. Johnson, Joseph E. LeDoux, and Elizabeth A. Phelps. 2010. Preventing the return of fear in humans using reconsolidation update mechanisms. Nature 463: 49–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08637.CrossRef

27.

Yehuda, Rachel, Linda M. Bierer, Laura C. Pratchett, Amy Lehrner, Erin C. Koch, Jaklyn A. Van Manen, Janine D. Flory, Iouri Makotkine, and Tom Hildebrandt. 2015. Cortisol augmentation of a psychological treatment for warfighters with posttraumatic stress disorder: Randomized trial showing improved treatment retention and outcome. Psychoneuroendocrinology 51: 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.08.004.CrossRef

28.

Soravia, Leila M., Markus Heinrichs, Livia Winzeler, Melanie Fisler, Wolfgang Schmitt, Helge Horn, Thomas Dierks, Werner Strik, Stefan G. Hofmann, and Dominique J.-F.. de Quervain. 2014. Glucocorticoids enhance in vivo exposure-based therapy of spider phobia. Depression and Anxiety 31: 429–435. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22219.CrossRef

29.

Phelps, Elizabeth A., and Stefan G. Hofmann. 2019. Memory editing from science fiction to clinical practice. Nature 572: 43–50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1433-7.CrossRef

30.

Giustino, Thomas F., Paul J. Fitzgerald, and Stephen Maren. 2016. Revisiting propranolol and PTSD: Memory erasure or extinction enhancement? Neurobiology of learning and memory 130: 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2016.01.009.CrossRef

31.

Alberini, Cristina M., and Joseph E. LeDoux. 2013. Memory reconsolidation. Current Biology 23(17): R746–R750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.046.CrossRef

32.

Ehlers, Anke, and David M. Clark. 2000. A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 38: 319–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00123-0.CrossRef

33.

Deisseroth, Karl. 2012. Optogenetics and psychiatry: Applications, challenges, and opportunities. Biological Psychiatry 71: 1030–1032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.12.021.CrossRef

34.

Hernandez, Pepe J., and Ted Abel. 2008. The role of protein synthesis in memory consolidation: Progress amid decades of debate. Neurobiology of learning and memory 89: 293–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2007.09.010.CrossRef

35.

Josselyn, Sheena A., and Susumu Tonegawa. 2020. Memory engrams: Recalling the past and imagining the future. Science 367. American Association for the Advancement of Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw4325.

36.

Ramirez, Steve, Xu Liu, Pei-Ann. Lin, Junghyup Suh, Michele Pignatelli, Rorger L. Redondo, Tomás J. Ryan, and Susumu Tonegawa. 2013. Creating a False Memory in the Hippocampus. Science 341: 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239073.CrossRef

37.

Redondo, Roger L., Joshua Kim, Autumn L. Arons, Steve Ramirez, Xu Liu, and Susumu Tonegawa. 2014. Bidirectional switch of the valence associated with a hippocampal contextual memory engram. Nature 513: 426–430. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13725.CrossRef

38.

Chen, Shuo, Adam Z. Weitemier, Xiao Zeng, Linmeng He, Xiyu Wang, Yanqiu Tao, Arthur J. Y. Huang, et al. 2018. Near-infrared deep brain stimulation via upconversion nanoparticle-mediated optogenetics. Science 359: 679–684. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq1144.CrossRef

39.

Wang, Shutao, Tara Kugelman, Amanda Buch, Mathieu Herman, Yang Han, Maria Eleni Karakatsani, S. Abid Hussaini, Karen Duff, and Elisa E. Konofagou. 2017. Non-invasive, focused ultrasound-facilitated gene delivery for optogenetics. Scientific Reports 7: 39955. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39955.CrossRef

40.

Bedbrook, Claire N., Kevin K. Yang, J. Elliott Robinson, Elisha D. Mackey, Viviana Gradinaru, and Frances H. Arnold. 2019. Machine learning-guided channelrhodopsin engineering enables minimally invasive optogenetics. Nature Methods 16: 1176–1184. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0583-8.CrossRef

41.

Rich, Megan, Eric Zhang, Ashley Dickey, Haley Jones, Kelli Cannon, Yuriy Bandera, Stephen Foulger, Farah Lubin, and Mark Bolding. 2020. A noninvasive approach to optogenetics using focused ultrasound blood brain barrier disruption for the delivery of Rradioluminescent particles. bioRxiv: 2020.08.20.248302. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.20.248302.

42.

Gong, Xin, Diego Mendoza-Halliday, Jonathan T. Ting, Tobias Kaiser, Xuyun Sun, André M. Bastos, Ralf D. Wimmer, et al. 2020. An ultra-sensitive step-function opsin for minimally invasive optogenetic stimulation in mice and macaques. Neuron 107: 38-51.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.03.032.CrossRef

43.

Sahel, José-Alain, Elise Boulanger-Scemama, Chloé Pagot, Angelo Arleo, Francesco Galluppi, Joseph N. Martel, Simona Degli Esposti, et al. 2021. Partial recovery of visual function in a blind patient after optogenetic therapy. Nature Medicine 27: 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01351-4.

44.

Adamczyk, Agnieszka K., and Przemysław Zawadzki. 2021. Personality and authenticity in light of the memory-modifying potential of optogenetics: A reply to objections about potential therapeutic applicability of optogenetics. AJOB Neuroscience 0: 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2021.1938292.CrossRef

45.

Gilbert, Frederic, and Eliza Goddard. 2014. Thinking ahead too much: Speculative ethics and implantable brain devices. AJOB Neuroscience 5: 49–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2013.863252.CrossRef

46.

Müller, Sabine, and Henrik Walter. 2014. Neither Speculative nor Narrow-Minded Ethics is Needed for Optogenetics-Based DBS in Psychiatry and Neurology. AJOB Neuroscience 5: 12–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2014.911780.CrossRef

47.

Gilbert, Frederic, Alexander R. Harris, and Michael Kidd. 2021. Burnt in Your Memory or Burnt Memory? Ethical Issues with Optogenetics for Memory Modification. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 22–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866104.CrossRef

48.

Lavazza, Andrea. 2021. Can Memory Make a Difference? Reasons for Changing or Not Our Autobiographical Memory. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 38–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866106.CrossRef

49.

Bublitz, Jan Christoph, and Dimitris Repantis. 2021. Memory, Authenticity, and Optogenethics. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 30–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866102.CrossRef

50.

Kostick, Kristin Marie, and Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz. 2021. Neural Safeguards against Global Impacts of Memory Modification on Identity: Ethical and Practical Considerations. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 45–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866111.CrossRef

51.

Robins, Sarah K. 2016. Optogenetics and the mechanism of false memory. Synthese 193: 1561–1583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-016-1045-9.CrossRef

52.

Robins, Sarah K. 2018. Memory and optogenetic intervention: Separating the engram from the ecphory. Philosophy of Science 85: 1078–1089. https://doi.org/10.1086/699692.CrossRef

53.

Mihailov, Emilian, Alexandra Zorila, and Cristian Iftode. 2021. Taking Relational Authenticity Seriously: Neurotechnologies, Narrative Identity, and Co-Authorship of the Self. American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 12: 35–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866105.CrossRef

54.

Mackenzie, Catriona, and Mary Walker. 2015. Neurotechnologies, personal identity and the ethics of authenticity. In Springer Handbook of Neuroethics, ed. Jens Clausen, and Neil Levy, 373–92. Dordrecht: Springer.

55.

Erler, Alexandre. 2021. Optogenetic Memory Modification and the Many Facets of Authenticity. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 40–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866108.CrossRef

56.

Lindemann, Hilde. 2001. Damaged Identities, Narrative Repair. New York: Cornell University Press.

57.

Baylis, Françoise. 2013. “I Am Who I Am”: On the Perceived Threats to Personal Identity from Deep Brain Stimulation. Neuroethics 6: 513–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-011-9137-1.CrossRef

58.

Schechtman, Marya. 2010. Philosophical reflections on narrative and deep brain stimulation. The Journal of Clinical Ethics 21: 133–139.CrossRef

59.

Zawadzki, Przemysław. 2021. Dimensions of the Threat to the Self Posed by Deep Brain Stimulation: Personal Identity, Authenticity, and Autonomy. Diametros 18: 71–98. https://doi.org/10.33392/diam.1592.CrossRef

60.

DeGrazia, David. 2005. Human identity and bioethics. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef

61.

Schechtman, Marya. 2014. Staying alive: Personal identity, practical concerns, and the unity of a life, New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

62.

Schechtman, Marya. 1996. The constitution of selves. New York: Cornell University Press.

63.

Lindemann, Hilde. 2014. Holding and letting go: The social practice of personal identities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

64.

Baylis, Françoise. 2012. The self in situ: A relational account of personal identity. In Being relational: Reflections on relational theory and health law, ed. Jocelyn Downie and Jennifer J. Llewelyn, 109–131. Vancouver: UBC Press.

65.

Nyholm, Sven, and Elizabeth O’Neill. 2016. Deep Brain Stimulation, Continuity over Time, and the True Self. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 25: 647–658. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180116000372.CrossRef

66.

Erler, Alexandre, and Tony Hope. 2014. Mental Disorder and the Concept of Authenticity. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 21: 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1353/ppp.2014.0032.CrossRef

67.

Erler, Alexandre. 2012. One Man’s Authenticity is Another Man’s Betrayal: A Reply to Levy: One Man’s Authenticity is Another Man’s Betrayal. Journal of Applied Philosophy 29: 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2012.00562.x.CrossRef

68.

De Brigard, Felipe. 2014. Is memory for remembering? Recollection as a form of episodic hypothetical thinking. Synthese 191: 155–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-013-0247-7.CrossRef

69.

Loftus, Elizabeth F., and Jacqueline E. Pickrell. 1995. The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals 25: 720–725. https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-19951201-07.

70.

Schechter, Elizabeth. 2018. Self-consciousness and “split” Brains: The Minds’ I. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

71.

Walker, Mary Jean. 2012. Neuroscience, self-understanding, and narrative truth. AJOB Neuroscience 3: 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2012.712603.CrossRef

72.

Van Leeuwen, D.S., and Neil. 2007. The spandrels of self-deception: Prospects for a biological theory of a mental phenomenon. Philosophical Psychology 20: 329–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515080701197148.CrossRef

73.

Von Hippel, William, and Robert Trivers. 2011. The evolution and psychology of self-deception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 34: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X10001354.CrossRef

74.

Lauria, Federico, Delphine Preissmann, and Fabrice Clément. 2016. Self-deception as affective coping. An empirical perspective on philosophical issues. Consciousness and Cognition 41: 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.02.001.CrossRef

75.

Dworkin, Gerald. 2015. The nature of autonomy. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy 2015 (2): 28479. https://doi.org/10.3402/nstep.v1.28479.CrossRef

76.

Kühler, Michael, and Nadja Jelinek. 2012. Autonomy and the self. Dordrecht: Springer.

77.

Mackenzie, Catriona. 2008. Introduction: Practical identity and narrative agency. In Practical identity and narrative agency, ed. Catriona Mackenzie, and Kim Atkins, 1–28. London: Routledge.

78.

Mackenzie, Catriona, and Natalie Stoljar. 2000. Relational autonomy: Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency, and the social self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

79.

Oshana, Marina. 1998. Personal Autonomy and Society. Journal of Social Philosophy 29: 81–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.1998.tb00098.x.CrossRef

80.

Oshana, Marina. 2016. Personal Autonomy in Society. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315247076.CrossRef

81.

Oshana, Marina. 2020. Relational autonomy. In International encyclopedia of ethics, 1–13. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444367072.wbiee921.

82.

Bravo-Rivera, Christian, and Francisco Sotres-Bayon. 2020. From isolated emotional memories to their competition during conflict. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14: 36. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00036.

83.

McAdams, Dan P., and Benjamin K. Jones. 2017. Making meaning in the wake of trauma. In Reconstructing meaning after trauma, ed. Elizabeth Altmaier, 3–16. London: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803015-8.00001-2.

84.

Wilson, John P. 2007. The posttraumatic self: Restoring meaning and wholeness to personality. New York: Brunner-Routledge.CrossRef

85.

Lindemann, Hilde. 2019. An invitation to feminist ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

86.

Delker, Brianna C., Rowan Salton, Kate C. McLean, and Moin Syed. 2020. Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence. PLOS ONE 15(6): e0234201. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234201.CrossRef

87.

Brunet, Alain, Joaquin Poundja, Jacques Tremblay, Eric Bui, Emilie Thomas, Scott P. Orr, Abdelmadjid Azzoug, Philippe Birmes, and Roger K. Pitman. 2011. Trauma reactivation under the influence of propranolol decreases posttraumatic stress symptoms and disorder: 3 open-label trials. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 31: 547–550. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCP.0b013e318222f360.CrossRef

88.

Brunet, Alain, Daniel Saumier, Aihua Liu, David L. Streiner, Jacques Tremblay, and Roger K. Pitman. 2018. Reduction of PTSD Symptoms With Pre-Reactivation Propranolol Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Psychiatry 175: 427–433. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17050481.CrossRef

89.

Brunet, Alain, Émilie. Thomas, Daniel Saumier, Andrea R. Ashbaugh, Abdelmadjid Azzoug, Roger K. Pitman, Scott P. Orr, and Jacques Tremblay. 2014. Trauma Reactivation Plus Propranolol Is Associated With Durably Low Physiological Responding During Subsequent Script-Driven Traumatic Imagery. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie 59: 228–232.CrossRef

90.

Kindt, Merel, and Arnold van Emmerik. 2016. New avenues for treating emotional memory disorders: Towards a reconsolidation intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 6: 283–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/2045125316644541.CrossRef

91.

Brunet, Alain, Scott P. Orr, Jacques Tremblay, Kate Robertson, Karim Nader, and Roger K. Pitman. 2008. Effect of post-retrieval propranolol on psychophysiologic responding during subsequent script-driven traumatic imagery in post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research 42: 503–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.05.006.CrossRef

92.

LeDoux, Joseph E. 2000. Emotion Circuits in the Brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience 23: 155–184. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155.CrossRef

93.

Mahr, Johannes B., and Gergely Csibra. 2018. Why do we remember? The communicative function of episodic memory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 41: 1–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17000012.

94.

Lavazza, Andrea. 2015. Erasing traumatic memories: When context and social interests can outweigh personal autonomy. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 10: 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13010-014-0021-6.CrossRef

95.

Hobfoll, Stevan E., Allison E. Gaffey, and Linzy M. Wagner. 2018. PTSD and the influence of context: The self as a social mirror. Journal of Personality 1: 76–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12439.CrossRef

96.

McAdams, Dan P. 2019. Psychopathology and the self: Human actors, agents, and authors. Journal of Personality 1: 146–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12496.

97.

Frankfurt, Harry G. 1971. Freedom of the will and the concept of a person. The Journal of Philosophy 68: 5–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/2024717.

98.

Frankfurt, Harry G. 1988. The importance of what we care about: Philosophical essays. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef

99.

Maslen, Hannah, Jonathan Pugh, and Julian Savulescu. 2015. The Ethics of Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa. Neuroethics 8: 215–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-015-9240-9.CrossRef

100.

Dranseika, Vilius. 2021. Authenticity, Self-Defining Memories, and the Direction of Change. AJOB Neuroscience 12: 48–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1866112.CrossRef

101.

Westlund, Andrea C. 2009. Rethinking relational autonomy. Hypatia 24: 26–49.CrossRef

102.

DeScioli, Peter, and Robert Kurzban. 2009. The alliance hypothesis for human friendship. PLoS ONE 4(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005802.

Title: The Ethics of Memory Modification: Personal Narratives, Relational Selves and Autonomy
Author: Przemysław Zawadzki
Publication date: 01-04-2023
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Neuroethics / Issue 1/2023
Print ISSN: 1874-5490
Electronic ISSN: 1874-5504
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-022-09512-z

Advances in Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Disease
Independent Medical Education

Alzheimer's research and care is changing rapidly. Keep up with the latest developments from key international conferences, together with expert insights on how to integrate these advances into practice.

This content is intended for healthcare professionals outside of the UK.

Supported by:

Lilly

Developed by: Springer Healthcare IME

Learn more

EASD 2024

Springer Medicine

The Ethics of Memory Modification: Personal Narratives, Relational Selves and Autonomy

Abstract

Advances in Alzheimer's

EASD 2024

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2023

Brain Death: Still A Puzzle After All These Years

Neurorights – Do we Need New Human Rights? A Reconsideration of the Right to Freedom of Thought

Present and Emerging Ethical Issues with tDCS use: A Summary and Review

Challenges to the Diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder: Feigning, Intentionality, and Responsibility

Neurorights as Hohfeldian Privileges

Merging Minds: The Conceptual and Ethical Impacts of Emerging Technologies for Collective Minds

Advances in Alzheimer's