Demographic trends of opinions about brain stimulation

Of many emerging technologies that improve clinical practice, brain stimulation devices have the capacity to repair and enhance cognitive and behavioral functioning in humans. It has demonstrated utility in enhancing motor learning and improving working memory in elderly adults. Dating back to the days of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), brain stimulation has presented ethical challenges due to its ability to change brain and behavioral states. Some aspects of early stigmas surrounding brain stimulation have transferred to modern day brain stimulation technologies, with the public expressing misunderstanding about the science behind it and concern for its use. However, despite the stigma, brain stimulation holds promise to enhance healthy individuals and remediate dysfunction in those with debilitating disorders. Numerous approaches in healthy cognition and disorders such as stroke, ADHD, OCD, traumatic brain injury, and schizophrenia are being explored. Despite the recent proliferation of these techniques, we know relatively little about the perspectives of the public. Because the public constitutes one of the key funders and stakeholders in the outcomes of brain stimulation research, it is important to understand how they view ongoing trends and judge the appropriateness of stimulation. While recent data suggest that the public is reluctant about some emerging brain stimulation techniques, the political, ideological, and personal variables that predict attitudes toward brain stimulation are unknown. In the current study, we evaluated previously unexamined data from Medaglia et al, to analyze public attitudes towards the moral acceptability and willingness to use brain stimulation on others (Medaglia et al., 2019). We analyzed personal factors such as gender, age, level of income, level of education, personality traits, religious ideology, and political ideology and its effect on both willingness to use brain stimulation and moral acceptability of such technology in the context of both enhance and repair. By examining public trends, we could identify areas in which to learn about the public's priorities and educate them. Additionally, through the study of public perception of brain stimulation, we are able to understand ways to educate the public to increase knowledge and eliminate the potential misunderstanding of the risks and benefits through exploration of the technology and science itself.