tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post3915003565385860557..comments2024-03-22T00:30:09.536-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: Great and Desperate Cures for AddictionThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-73132134577881250742009-10-02T05:53:40.833-07:002009-10-02T05:53:40.833-07:00When I first read the paper, I raised the issue on...When I first read the paper, I raised the issue on an addictions discussion list that is frequented by some major people in the field and I also contacted some high level experts whom I know for help-- I can't remember what actions they took, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who tried to contact the editor with concerns. <br /><br />Fortunately, we soon heard that the research had been discontinued.<br /><br />But what horrifies me is that anyone could have thought this was in any way a good idea. Why on earth would stopping people from feeling *natural* pleasure or desire cure addiction? How can you justify going into someone's brain when there are effective and non invasive treatments available without that risk?<br /><br />Sure, methadone isn't perfect-- but it unsurprisingly has a far higher success rate than this nonsense and it carries none of the risk.<br /><br />Perhaps you can contact the editors or editorial board with more success than I did?Maia Szalavitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09374512270335764119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-81824797407501114872009-10-01T23:35:49.348-07:002009-10-01T23:35:49.348-07:00Maia - I found the Guidelines for Authors at the S...Maia - I found the <a href="http://www.karger.com/sfn_guidelines" rel="nofollow">Guidelines for Authors</a> at the <i>Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery</i> journal website and was surprised to see there was NO mandate for describing human subjects protection. By contrast, here are the requirements at <i><a href="http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622925/authorinstructions" rel="nofollow">NeuroImage</a>:</i><br /><br /><i>Ethics:</i><br /><br /><i>When human subjects are used, manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that the experiments were undertaken with the understanding and written consent of each subject, with the approval of the appropriate local ethics committee, and in compliance with national legislation and the Code of Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) [ External link http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm]...</i><br /><br />This is standard for even the most innocuous and non-invasive cognitive psychology experiments. For example <i>Psychological Science</i> sends you to the Wiley-Blackwell site:<br /><br /><a href="http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/publicationethics.asp#_Toc149460077" rel="nofollow">4.2 Protecting the rights of research participants/subjects</a>.<br /><br />It seems mighty strange to me that a neurosurgery journal would not have an explicit policy to protect the rights of patients.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-76926821746608088912009-09-28T20:21:39.759-07:002009-09-28T20:21:39.759-07:00When I first read about the neurosurgery being don...When I first read about the neurosurgery being done to "treat" addiction in China, I immediately emailed the editors of the *Western* journal that published this completely unethical research with nary a comment as to the fact that what the surgery is basically trying to do (or is quite likely to achieve at any rate) is make people *permanently and irreversibly* pleasureless and amotivated.<br /><br />This is obviously not going to cure addiction-- treatments that block pleasure are already known not to work, for obvious reasons. Addicts are seeking to feel better-- making them feel bad isn't likely to stop them trying.<br /><br />Given that there are many, many noninvasive treatments that do not carry the risk of death and brain damage and permanent anhedonia, the idea of even trying this on humans is, well, horrifying and inhumane.<br /><br />Apparently the Chinese stopped, at least according to the Wall Street Journal. But the journal editors never replied-- and to my mind, they should all be ostracized from the scientific community for publishing and legitimizing this human rights violation.<br /><br />Has anyone else tried to go after the journal?Maia Szalavitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09374512270335764119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-73274040652573743402009-09-17T08:32:22.126-07:002009-09-17T08:32:22.126-07:00Does anyone know anything about the rigor of peer-...Does anyone know anything about the rigor of peer-review in China? My impression, from reviewing papers in the field of neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience from China, is that they tend to be pretty bad. Not only the English, that is a different issue. They tend to be poor conceptually and methodologically. If the papers that are sent to Western journals are that bad, I imagine that a lot of the literature in Chinese, published in Chinese journals is probably low quality. Any comments?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-66781577168949432932009-09-16T00:02:55.039-07:002009-09-16T00:02:55.039-07:00Yay! Are there even 100 neuroscience blogs in exis...Yay! Are there even 100 neuroscience blogs in existence? Wait... The Daily Reviewer looks remarkably like <a href="http://neuroscience.alltop.com/" rel="nofollow">Alltop</a>.<br /><br />Noah - I didn't even notice the 2nd "this" when I pasted it in... repetition blindness?The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-57223282618825178052009-09-15T23:19:36.013-07:002009-09-15T23:19:36.013-07:00Sorry. I am not bringing as exciting of news as An...Sorry. I am not bringing as exciting of news as Angelina...<br /><br />All I wanted to do was complain. If you were going to include my lame-ass quote here, the *least* you could have done was correct it and remove the second "this." I don't need extra help reminding people of my ineptitude.Noah Grayhttp://www.google.com/profiles/gray.noahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-74414171736978154462009-09-15T20:24:04.528-07:002009-09-15T20:24:04.528-07:00Hi!
Congratulations! Your readers have submitted ...Hi!<br /><br />Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 neuroscience Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at <a href="http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/neuroscience" rel="nofollow">http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/neuroscience</a><br /><br />You can claim your <a href="http://thedailyreviewer.com/pages/badges/neuroscience" rel="nofollow">Top 100 Blogs Award here</a><br /><br />P.S. This is a one-time notice to let you know your blog was included in one of our Top 100 Blog categories. You might get notices if you are listed in two or more categories.<br /><br />P.P.S. If for some reason you want your blog removed from our list, just send an email to <a href="mailto:angelina@thedailyreviewer.com" rel="nofollow">angelina@thedailyreviewer.com</a> with the subject line "REMOVE" and the link to your blog in the body of the message.<br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />Angelina Mizaki<br />Selection Committee President<br />The Daily Reviewer<br />http://thedailyreviewer.comThe Daily Reviewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12672829965149297647noreply@blogger.com