Cyborg psychiatry to ensure agency and autonomy in mental disorders. A proposal for neuromodulation therapeutics

Jean-Arthur Micoulaud-Franchi, Guillaume Fond, Guillaume Dumas
Front. Hum. Neurosci.. 2013-01-01; 7:
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00463

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1. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Sep 5;7:463. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00463. eCollection
2013.

Cyborg psychiatry to ensure agency and autonomy in mental disorders. A proposal
for neuromodulation therapeutics.

Micoulaud-Franchi JA(1), Fond G, Dumas G.

Author information:
(1)Unité de Neurophysiologie, Psychophysiologie et Neurophénoménologie, Solaris,
Pôle de Psychiatrie Universitaire, Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite Marseille, France ;
Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR CNRS 7291, 31 Aix-Marseille
Université, Site St Charles Marseille, France.

Neuromodulation therapeutics-as repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
and neurofeedback-are valuable tools for psychiatry. Nevertheless, they currently
face some limitations: rTMS has confounding effects on neural activation
patterns, and neurofeedback fails to change neural dynamics in some cases. Here
we propose how coupling rTMS and neurofeedback can tackle both issues by adapting
neural activations during rTMS and actively guiding individuals during
neurofeedback. An algorithmic challenge then consists in designing the proper
recording, processing, feedback, and control of unwanted effects. But this new
neuromodulation technique also poses an ethical challenge: ensuring treatment
occurs within a biopsychosocial model of medicine, while considering both the
interaction between the patients and the psychiatrist, and the maintenance of
individuals’ autonomy. Our solution is the concept of Cyborg psychiatry, which
embodies the technique and includes a self-engaged interaction between patients
and the neuromodulation device.

DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00463
PMCID: PMC3763194
PMID: 24046734

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