This article is chapter 15 in the book The Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain, 1st Edition, Leefmann J, Hildt E (Editors). You can find a description of the book at this website.
Abstract of the article/chapter "Strangers" in Neuroscientific Research:
In this chapter we discuss how external ethics advisors can contribute to securing fundamental ethical, legal, and social values in neuroscientific research. The context is the role of the work of advisors in the Human Brain Project (HBP), based on experiences from members of the (former) Ethics, Legal and Social Aspects Committee, and the current Ethics Advisory Board. Both committees were/are expected to advise the HBP Board of Directors on ethical, regulatory, social, and philosophical issues raised by research in the HBP. We discuss how size, organization, information, and expectations pose crucial challenges to this kind of research. Based on these considerations, we suggest three overarching normative principles (primum non nocere, weighing benefit and harm, and transparency) and a number of concrete measures. We conclude by underscoring the necessity of establishing structural systems to support these principles.
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