E-Portfolio 4

For the E-Portfolio 4, I am required to summarise 2 articles which i used in my writing assignment 2. The 2 articles i will be using are Ethics and Mapping The Brain and A Computer That Can 'Read' Your Mind. These articles are found in the IVLE notes.

Researchers and Scientists around the world are looking for ways to understand how a brain process a human being thoughts and information. A major breakthrough that they found is Functional Magnetic Resonant Imaging (fMRI). The research was conducted by scientists Tom Mitchell and neuroscientist Marcel Just.. This research is supported bt the National Science Foundation (NSF) and W.M. Foundation. Results have shown that fMRI is able to detect and locate brain activity when a person think about a word and using the data found, a computer generated model will be able to determine what the person is thinking. Further researches have been performed and new developments have further increase the accuracy of the test. Using the test results from fMRI, the researchers are able to break down the results into 12 categories eg. animals, insect and etc... . Through a comparison of a text corpus with the 12 categories, the computer will be able to predict the brain activities. Results have shown that fMRI are able to effectively predict the word before the computer 'consult' the model associated with the word. Results have shown that a person can relate a item with the way a person handle the item. In the case, an apple have been represented by tasting, smelling and chewing. More researches are needed to be done to identify more brain issues especially in the medical field. It could lead to some cures or early detection for brain diseases.

For the next article, it is regarding the ethics issues with fMRI. FMRI can be used in many situation, in the first case, it can be used in interrogation of criminals. Results shown that there are differences in the brain activities when the criminals are lying or not and it can be used in the criminal invertigation. This action leads to one major issue, ethic. In the case of Nancy, a pilot, who was sacked and had her license revoked due to symptoms of schizophrenia and familiarity with rifle, , it is very unfair for her. It could also leads to legal issue as there is no law saying that she could reject the scanning. The test was not 100% accurate as of the time of the scan. Thus the writer commented that there should be a certain rules and regulation for brain scanning before it could be used in Courts as evidence or job application. Due to the lacks of regulations on brain scanning, a criminal who reject in doing the brain scanning could affect the jury's decision in Courts. The next issue that the writer commented on is about the privacy of the brain scanning results. He commented that there are no assurances in the privacy as there are no certain organiztion who can 'look' after the results. He too commented that brain scanning is expensive and it could be unfair for people who cannot afford to pay for it.Lastly, he commented on parents who can choose the future of the children using the scan results. Parents could send their childrens for the scan and determine the field that they are good in and thus rejecting the chance of venturing into other fields that the child may be interested in.

The two articles have shown the pros and cons of brain scanning (fMRI). It also show the different stands between the 2 writers. It will be up to individual to determine his or her stands.

References

Marano, L. (2003, June 3). Ethics and mapping the brain (An Abridged version of the original in the Washington Times). Retrieved March 12, 2009, from the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics Web Site: http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/neuro/brain_mapping_ethics.htm

National Science Foundation. (2008, May 30). A computer that can ‘read’ your mind [Press release 08-091]. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111641&org=olpa&from=news