In May, Bioethics published a study by researchers at North Carolina State University and the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) on "moral enhancement technologies"--using drugs or neurostimulation to improve behavior.
Enhancements included:
* Oxytocin, a neuropeptide that affects social cognition and bonding (sometimes called "the moral molecule");
* Beta blockers, which have been found to decrease implicit racist responses; and
* Transcranial direct current stimulation, reported to make people more utilitarian.
Aside from various risks, including addiction, researchers found that moral enhancement techniques may not be effective (beta blockers, for example...
