On May 24, from noon-1:30 pm, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Center for Neurotechnology Studies presented a lecture by visiting scholars Adriana Gini, MD, and Vito Antonio Amodio, MD, PhD. The program was hosted by Prof. James Giordano, PhD, director of the Center for Neurotechnology Studies. Registration is required.

Dr. Gini presented a talk entitled "Is Morality Innate?"in which she addressed the intriguing question of whether we are born with a sense of right and wrong. Recent studies in infants have shown that rudimentary moral cognition is present, and that education and culture are important elements to moderate and shape it.  Dr. Gini explored the implications of these findings, including whether this knowledge could lead us to employ neurotechnology to achieve moral enhancement/enrichment.

Dr. Amodio presented a lecture entitled "Psychiatry: Neurobiotechnology's Last Frontier."  In his talk, Dr. Amodio examined how technologies including fMRI and genetics testing are enabling better diagnoses of psychiatric conditions.  He discussed how more precise diagnoses can lead to better, more targeted treatments, while exploring the appropriate role of technology in either treatment or diagnosis as part of the biopsychosocial model in which disorders could be characterized and should therefore be addressed and categorized.