Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees
October 18, 2023
Matthew Owen, Zirui Huang, Catherine Duclos et al.
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs), grown from stem cells to mimic developing brain tissue, may eventually manifest rudimentary consciousness, despite current limitations. Since HCOs provide no behavioral indicators of consciousness, this article applies three neurobiological theories—the Temporal Circuit Hypothesis, the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, and the Integrated Information Theory—to assess whether HCOs could possess a neurobiological capacity for consciousness, analogous to how these theories are used with unresponsive brain-injured patients.
AJOB Neuroscience
January 1, 2023
Federico Zilio, Andrea Lavazza
Human cerebral organoids are lab-grown 3D cultures that mimic the cellular composition, structure, and function of the brain, though they currently lack blood vessels and other features. They already exhibit coordinated electrical activity, and their complexity is rapidly improving. This raises the question of whether they could develop consciousness. The article discusses the neural correlates and constraints for consciousness according to leading neuroscientific theories, then considers the moral status a potentially conscious organoid might have based on ethical and ontological arguments. It concludes by proposing a precautionary principle and suggests that recent experiments may produce entities of a potential new kind.
Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia
December 31, 2021
Giovanni Tuzet, Andrea Lavazza
The theory of documentality treats social objects as inscribed acts, while extended mind theory holds that minds extend beyond the body into external processes and devices. Both theories rely on semiotics to reduce differences between minds and documents, but this becomes implausible because minds and documents have different properties, just as social objects differ from the acts that constitute them. This raises a problem for a shared thesis: that moderate or interactionist externalism can challenge strong externalism.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
October 28, 2021
Andrea Lavazza
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are three-dimensional lab-grown models of early brain development that already show electrical activity, sensitivity to light, and the ability to connect to spinal cord tissue to trigger muscle contraction. At 10 months, their network activity resembles preterm babies' EEG patterns. Given rapid progress, HCOs might become a living laboratory for studying consciousness and testing neuroscientific theories. The author proposes research lines to investigate conscious states using HCOs and discusses ethical issues that may require strict regulation.
Brain Research
January 1, 2021
Andrea Lavazza
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are laboratory-grown models of early brain development used to study neurological disorders. Despite limitations like the lack of blood vessels, recent advances show they exhibit electrical activity between neurons, respond to light, and can connect to spinal cord tissue to trigger muscle contractions. At ten months, their network development resembles some preterm babies' EEG patterns. These developments raise ethical questions about whether HCOs might develop a primitive form of consciousness and acquire moral status with associated rights. The article discusses conditions under which HCOs could be granted moral status, how consciousness might be detected, and proposes cautionary measures for research.
Monash bioethics review
December 1, 2020
Andrea Lavazza
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are three-dimensional cell cultures that mimic developing human brain tissue, currently reaching tens of millions of cells and a few millimeters in size, but lacking vascularization limits further growth. Recent research shows HCOs can exhibit electrical activity and EEG patterns similar to those of preterm babies, suggesting they may eventually develop sentience or rudimentary consciousness. This raises ethical questions about whether HCOs deserve moral status and what research limitations are needed. The article focuses on using HCOs to study consciousness emergence, arguing such experiments are probably not morally acceptable.
Journal of law and the biosciences
January 1, 2020
Andrea Lavazza, Federico Gustavo Pizzetti
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are miniature brains grown from human cells that mimic embryonic brain development. Recent studies show they exhibit complex electrical activity, respond to light, and can control connected muscle. Although they currently lack vascularization and sensory input, more developed HCOs might display rudimentary sentience, particularly basic pain and pleasure experiences. This article examines whether such sentient HCOs would deserve legal protection or moral status. It argues that no special legal rights beyond those for human biological material are warranted, but a sentient HCO could have its moral status recognized, potentially requiring legal adaptation.
Phenomenology and Mind
September 17, 2018
Andrea Lavazza
The paper proposes the concept of 'qualia of meaning'—experiences tied to the holistic understanding of a set of knowledge elements that guide thinking. It compares this concept to William James's notion of the 'fringe' of consciousness and the more recent idea of the 'non-sensory fringe.' The author argues that qualia of meaning have both an intentional cognitive aspect and a phenomenal aspect, distinguishing them from but relating them to the non-sensory fringe. The main aim is to describe qualia of meaning and highlight their similarities and differences with the non-sensory fringe, drawing on phenomenological distinctions between clear and vague aspects of consciousness.
Journal of Medical Ethics
September 1, 2018
Andrea Lavazza, Marcello Massimini
Organoids are 3D lab-grown structures from stem cells that mimic real organs, aiding biomedical research, drug testing, and personalized medicine. Cerebral organoids (mini-brains) show neural activity similar to a fetal brain, raising ethical concerns about potential sentience. Techniques like the Perturbational Complexity Index, based on Integrated Information Theory, could measure consciousness in these organoids, as done for brain-injured patients. If sentience is detected, ethical debates on their use in research and practice become necessary.