![Sample our Education journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5932/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Education.jpg"})
Abstract
Recent research indicates that transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) of specific brain regions can successfully improve various forms of creative cognition. Although the endeavor to increase human creative capacity is intriguing from a neuroscientific perspective, and of interest to the general public, it raises numerous neuroethico-legal and social issues (NELSI). This review explores these issues by considering (a) whether using brain stimulation to improve creative cognition qualifies as a ‘treatment’ or an ‘enhancement,’ (b) how direct-to-consumer (DTC) and do-it-yourself (DIY) use of tES should be regarded and regulated, and (c) what the developing landscape of creativity-related neurostimulation could (and should) become.
Acknowledgment
ABW, RAC, and AEG are supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (DRL-1,420,481 & DRL-1,661,065) and The John Templeton Foundation (ID 51,971). JG is supported by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (720,270: HBP SGA1); UL1TR001409 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through the Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards Program (CTSA), a trademark of the Department of Health and Human Services, part of the Roadmap Initiative “Re-Engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise;” by the AEHS Foundation and Project Neuro-HOPE; by an unrestricted research grant from Halo Neurosciences; and by the Austin and Ann O’Malley Distinguished Visiting Chair in Bioethics of Loyola Marymount University, CA.
Disclosure Statement
We declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any financial interests or benefits that could arise from its direct application.