FORMATION OF NEW IDEAS

1/18-1/25

This past week in ISM, I found an extremely interesting article to analyze for my research assessment. After reading about ethics and its relation to technological advancement in the field of neuroscience, I became intrigued and decided to research into it further through upcoming research assessments. I learned about memory modulating technologies and how they can be utilized to bring back memories in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease or other neurodegenerative disorders that are directly linked to dementia. This is a fairly recent innovation that has shown both pros and cons for patients. While retrieving memories can help spark neural connections, it can also bring back traumatic experiences that are better off forgotten. Such an occurrence would then pose questions regarding authenticity of an individual and manipulation of their desires, directly leading to questions regarding ethics. This is by far one of the most fascinating research articles I have come across this year and it has definitely sparked a new path of further research relating to it.

Having acquired a newfound passion and curiosity for ethics and technology in neuroscience, I am looking to incorporate this subject matter into my final product for ISM this year. Last week, I also completed a rough final product proposal and calendar to show to my mentor for feedback and a direct outline of how I plan to spend my time with her. For my final product, I have chosen to create a report regarding the ethical implications of technology as it relates to the advancing field of neuroscience. To accompany this, I will also create a video to aid audio-visual learners in absorbing the information in a more visually appealing format. This week, my goals are to expand on my research by delving deeper into technology and its intersection with my field of study and obtain a research article that suits my interests. Simultaneously, I will continue to work on my original work speech and prepare for my presentation in the upcoming weeks.