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Unit of study_
BMRI5001: The Ethics of Neuroscience and Mental Health
2025 unit information
This unit examines a range of ethical issues within neuroscience and mental health, and how our understanding of these issues is important for research, diagnosis, treatment, and policy making. Students will not only examine how contemporary scientific practices have ethical, social, cultural and legal implications, they will also examine how ethical, social, and cultural factors can affect our understanding of neuroscience and mental health, and the underlying assumptions of researchers in these fields. In doing this, they will synthesise and integrate knowledge from other areas of neuroscience and mental health. The course aspires to inform future decision-makers in health, public policy, clinical settings and academia of the unique contributions and skills that biomedical ethics provides to the fields of mental health and neuroscience. Topics may include the nature of psychiatric disorders and their relationship with prevailing social and cultural factors, the implications of new technology for treatment and enhancement, the philosophical basis of the concept of mental disorder, the extent to which neuroscience can or cannot help us understand and treat mental illnesses, the relationship between researchers and public understanding of the research, the relationship between power, the psychiatric profession, and the categorisation of patients, the complex relationship between morality, mental health and the law, and whether scientific research can help us answer philosophical questions.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Brain and Mind Science |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. discuss brain and mind function within a historical, philosophical and ethical context
- LO2. explain the impacts of key neuroscience innovations of the last century on concepts of brain and mind function
- LO3. critique claims regarding the benefits and harms of neuroscience for understanding brain and mind function, and psychological capacities
- LO4. examine how society and culture influence central concepts in brain and mind sciences
- LO5. determine ethical issues that arise from the use of neurotechnology in research and clinical contexts
- LO6. analyse broader implications of neuroscience in social and legal contexts
- LO7. debate appropriate uses of neurotechnology in clinical, social and legal contexts.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2024
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Distance education/intensive on campus | Mallett Street, Sydney |
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Distance education/intensive on campus | Mallett Street, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
