‘This is not science fiction,’ say scientists pushing for ‘neuro-rights’

A file photo of a man demonstrating how he uses a keyboard without typing by wearing a skull-cap with sensors, at a conference on brain technology in Tel Aviv on Oct 15, 2013. — Reuters

Scientific advances from deep brain stimulation to wearable scanners are making manipulation of the human mind increasingly possible, creating a need for laws and protections to regulate use of the new tools, top neurologists said on Dec 3.

A set of “neuro-rights” should be added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations, said Rafael Yuste, a neuroscience professor at New York’s Columbia University and organiser of the Morningside Group of scientists and ethicists proposing such standards.