(I) The idea of the human mind as the domain of
absolute protection from external intrusion has persisted
for centuries. (II) Today, however, this presumption
might no longer hold. (III) Sophisticated neuro-imaging
machines detect the electrical activity of neurons,
enabling us to decode and even alter the nervous
system signals that accompany mental processes.
(IV) Medical devices connected to the brain are
vulnerable to sabotage, and neuroscientists suggest
that the same vulnerability applies to brain implants.
(V) Whereas these advances have a great potential for
research and medicine, they pose a fundamental
ethical, legal and social challenge: determining under
what conditions it is legitimate to gain access to another
person’s neural activity.