N-E-R-D-S Talks – Interdisciplinary Forum of Neuroethics in Mexico

Prof. Alberto Carrara, Coordinator of the Neurobioethics Research Group of Rome participated in the first Interdisciplinary Forum of Neuroethics at the Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City, Mexico on May 21. The presentations were organized around the acronym NERDS, according to the Spanish names of the various disciplines. Talks thus explored the relationship between neurological research and Ethics, Esthetics, Religion, Law, and Society. The Clinical Bioethics and Neuroethics Research Group (BINCA) organized the two-day event.

12binca12C (3)

Carrara’s PREZI presentation is available online here.

Carrara-Prezi2016

 

Does the brain have a sex? 2016 Brainforum

The Coordinator of the Neurobioethics Research Group of Rome and Fellow of the UNESCO Chair Alberto Carrara participated in the Brainforum “Does the brain have a sex?” at Hadrian’s Temple in Rome on May 20. The event was dedicated to sexual difference and the brain. It explored the structural and functional differences between the male and female brain.

Numerous debates regarding the theme proliferate among scientists, academics, sociologists, psychologists, feminists, and other culture sharpers. Professor and Researcher at the Sagol School of Neuroscience at the Tel-Aviv University Daphna Joel opened the round table discussion with her introductory lecture. Joel drew from new developments in cerebral imaging in presenting her innovative “Mosaic Brain” approach.

IMG-20160522-WA0002

A prestigious panel proceeded to discuss the legal, physiological, genetic, physiological aspects of neuroscientific findings that enrich our understanding of the factors that contribute to behavior.

It is possible to view the stimulating interdisciplinary event online here.

A full list of participants is found below.

bf-maggio-2-facciate-web1

Religion & Violence

In the Ethos Institute feature article “Religion & Violence,” UNESCO Chair Fellow Joseph Tham clarifies the often-misunderstood relationship between religious belief and the violent events that unfortunately fill news outlets. An excerpt from Tham’s article follows. The full text is found here.

 

We have recently witnessed tragic events of violence in many parts of the world.  The massacres in Belgium, Paris, and Pakistan, the shooting in California, the tension in Jerusalem, and the terrorist attacks in Turkey, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and Tunisia are but a few examples.  While many of these assaults are attributed to fanatics of Islamic extremism, there is an unspoken thesis that their religious conviction is the seed of such violence.  People like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens would like to brand all religious beliefs under the same banner of intolerance and hate.

What is the relationship between religious beliefs and violence?  Are monotheistic religions more prone to violence than polytheistic or Asian ones?  Does belief in a One True God translate into proselytization and the intolerant suppression all other “false” gods?  How do we explain the different passages in the Bible or the Koran that advocate violence towards unbelievers?

 

Image note: White Crucifixion by Marc Chagall (1938 oil on canvas) depicts Jesus as a Jewish martyr of the Nazi’s horrendous anti-religious persecutions.

Neurobioethics: bridge between bioethics, philosophy, and nature

UNESCO Chair fellow Alberto Carrara delivered a talk on “Neurobioethics: bridge between bioethics, philosophy, and nature” during the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium day of study in Rome devoted to “Scientific and Pedagogical Knowledge: for the well-being of the person” on May 9, 2016.

9maggio2016_IMG_3152

Carrara recently published an updated version of his presentation in latest edition of the journal Studia Bioethica and can be read online here. His PREZI presentation is available here.

pubblico