TMS and Neuroethics: Exploring the Moral Frontiers of Brain Stimulation

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has become one of the most fascinating and controversial tools in modern neuroscience. Once confined to research labs, it is now used clinically to treat depression, addiction, and other mental health disorders. But as this technology evolves, so do the ethical questions it raises.

Should we alter brain activity to enhance creativity or mood? Who decides what counts as a “healthy” mind? What happens when technology begins to touch the very core of personhood — our thoughts, memories, and sense of identity?

The new volume TMS and Neuroethics, edited by Veljko Dubljević and Jonathan R. Young, offers an in-depth, multidisciplinary response. The book examines how TMS challenges our understanding of autonomy, responsibility, and humanity itself.

🔍 What the Book Explores

• Theoretical foundations: How TMS research began, and the moral debates that shaped its use.
• Clinical practice: New insights into psychiatric treatment, mood regulation, and addiction therapy.
• Social and ethical dimensions: Inequalities in access, racial bias in participation, and the implications of using TMS beyond medicine — in creativity, learning, and performance enhancement.
• Global perspective: Contributions from neuroscientists, psychiatrists, engineers, and ethicists, combining research and reflection on real-world practices.

The editors highlight not only the promise of TMS as a medical innovation but also its potential to redefine human boundaries. As one chapter suggests, “When we change the brain, we change the person — and society must decide what kind of change it accepts.”

This book is essential for anyone involved in neuroscience, psychiatry, ethics, or policy-making — or anyone who believes that technology and morality must evolve together.

🛒 Read more or order your copy here:
👉 TMS and Neuroethics – CLNZ Books