The UNESCO Turkey Bioethics Monitoring Group Organized a ‘Neurotechnology Ethics Conference’

Haber tarihi: 02/02/2026

Last update date: 02.02.2026

UNESCO Turkey National Commission Bioethics Monitoring Group welcomed Assoc. Prof. Dr. Roberto, as an invited speaker, by a webinar on "The Ethics of Neurotechnology (2025): Perspectives from the UNESCO Declaration" on December 22, 2025. Dr. Andorno, a member of the Ad Hoc Expert Group on the Ethics of Neurotechnology (AHEG), contributed to Draft Recommendation together with 23 scholars from different countries and disciplines. The UNESCO Recommendation of Ethics of Neurotechnology was adopted by Member States at the UNESCO General Conference as the first global standard in the cutting-edge technology in November 2025.

Prof. Andorno has elaborated that neurotechnologies can interact in two different ways with brain. They can be used to read the brain data (ex. brain scans); and to write on the brain to alter some data or “improve” some brain functions (ex. brain stimulation). Therefore, neurotechnologies provide new diagnostic, preventive and treatment tools for neurological conditions, such as Brain Computer Interface (BCI) or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). All these technologies imply that a large amount of neural data can be potentially accessed and misused by third parties (other individuals, employers, the State and so on...). 

UNESCO Recommendation has emphasized the significance of using neurotechologies based on the values of Respect for human dignity, human rights, and fundamental freedoms; Human health and well-being (priority); Peace and fairness in society; Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Proportionality, Autonomy and Freedom of Thought, Protection of Neural Data (Inf. Consent) and Mental Privacy, Personal Identity, Non-Discrimination, Gender Equality, Accountability, Trustworthiness, Transparency, Best Interest of the Child.

Prof. Andorno concluded that Neurotechnologies have great potential to improve the well-being of neurological patients by providing new diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic tools. However, these same technologies open the door to unprecedented threats to the core of human personhood, to self- determination, freedom of thought, and mental privacy. The UNESCO Recommendation on the ethics of neurotechnology represents a valuable step by the international community towards ensuring a responsible use of these new technological powers. It is now up to the states to adopt specific legislative measures at the domestic level to implement the values and principles set out in the Recommendation. The webinar ended with Q&As by the audience, international colleagues from diverse disciplines, the members of the Bioethics Group, Profs Hakan Orer, Uygar Tazebay, Ozge Yucel and Yesim Isil Ulman. (UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology, November 2025 https://www.unesco.org/en/ethics-neurotech/recommendation)