Psychiatric Neuroethics: Studies in Research and Practice

Advances in psychiatric research and clinical psychiatry in the last 30 years have given rise to a host of new questions that lie at the intersection of psychiatry, neuroscience, philosophy and law. Such questions include:

-Are psychiatric disorders diseases of the brain, caused by dysfunctional neural circuits and neurotransmitters?
-What role do genes, neuro-endocrine, neuro-immune interactions and the environment play in the development of these disorders?
-How do different explanations of the etiology and pathophysiology of mental illness influence diagnosis, prognosis and decisions about treatment?
-Would it be rational for a person with a chronic treatment-resistant disorder to request euthanasia or assisted suicide to end their suffering?
-Could psychiatric disorders be predicted and prevented?

Psychiatric Neuroethics explores these questions in a comprehensive and systematic way, discussing the medical and philosophical implications of neuroscience and the Research Domain Criteria (RDoc) in the fields of psychiatry and mental health. It examines the extent to which circuit-based criteria can offer a satisfactory explanation of psychiatric disorders and how they compare with the symptom-based criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMV).

This book will be of interest to a multidisciplinary audience, including psychiatrists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, philosophers, psychologists and legal theorists.

Walter Glannon, Professor of Philosophy, University of Calgary

Walter Glannon is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calgary. He received his PhD in Philosophy from Yale University. His research interests lie primarily in the areas of free will, moral and legal responsibility, transplantation ethics and neuroethics.