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7. ETHICAL ISSUES IN NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ON SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION

CHAPTER 7

Ethical Issues in Neuroscience Research

on Substance Dependence Treatment
and Prevention

Introduction
Previous chapters have presented the latest findings in neuroscience research,
and have pointed to potential treatment and prevention strategies. However,
there are many ethical implications of the research itself, as well as the
treatment and prevention strategies, that must be considered. The rapid pace
of change in the field of neuroscience brings with it a host of new ethical
issues, which need to be addressed. This chapter considers the important
ethical and human rights issues that are raised by neuroscience research on
psychoactive substance dependence.

Types of research on the neuroscience of substance
dependence
Neuroscience research on substance dependence is classified here into five
broad categories: animal experiments; epidemiological research on substance
dependence; human experiments; clinical trials of pharmacological
treatments for substance dependence; and trials of preventive
pharmacological interventions.

Animal experiments
Animal experiments investigate the biological processes underlying
substance dependence using animal models of human substance
dependence. The major reasons for carrying out these studies are that much
greater experimental control is possible with animals, and more invasive
experiments can be done on animals than would be permitted in humans.

Epidemiological research on substance dependence

Although not strictly neuroscience research per se, epidemiological research
informs and complements neuroscience research. Epidemiological research
on patterns of substance use and dependence includes: surveys in the general
population and within the special population of drug users and dependent
persons (Anthony & Helzer, 1991; Kessler et al., 1994; Andrews, Henderson
&Hall, 2001), family studies (Swendsen et al., 2002), adoption studies (Hjern,

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