• Katharina Mader

• Friederike Wütscher

8.–9.5.2003  

In view of the new possibilities for neurological intervention, such as deep-brain stimulation in the treatment of neurological disorders like, for example, Parkinson's Disease, or the restoration of sensory functions by means of electronic implants as well as the possible influencing of brain functions by the use of cell and tissue implants, the participants of the expert meeting discussed the present European regulations and the anticipated perspectives offered by the new possibilities for interventions in the human brain. In addition to legal questions, decisive practical issues, such as reliable ways in which it is possible to determine the capability of the patient concerned to grant his consent, were discussed. In further contributions the question was posed as to when it was at all possible to speak of psychic illness. Furthermore, the role of science and the influence of valuations in regard to the assessment of psychic conditions as well as the question in respect of human free will, raised by more recent neurological findings, were discussed.

Participants: Professor Dr. Hans-Werner Bothe, Klinik/Poliklinik für Neurochirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Steffen Rosahl, Institut für Neurochirurgie, International Neuroscience Institute (INI) Hannover; Professor Dr. Otmar Wiestler, Institut für Neuropathologie Universität Bonn, Dr. Elaine Gadd, MA MRCPsych, Bioethics Department am Council of Europe, Professor Dr. Carlos Romeo Casabona Director, Cátedra Interuniversitaria Fundación BBVA – Diputación Foral de Bizkaia de Derecho y Genoma HumanoUniversity de Deusto University of Bilbao, Professor Dr. Bill Fulford Department of Philosophy University of Warwick and Department of Psychiatry Oxford University, Professor Dr. Dr. Jochen Vollmann, Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg und Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dirk Hartmann Philosophisches Institut Universität Essen.