Consciousness in a Rotor? Science and Ethics of Potentially Conscious Human Cerebral Organoids.
Federico Zilio, Andrea Lavazza
AJOB Neuroscience January 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2173329 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractHuman 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.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Sentience Embodied theory Integrated information theory Moral status |
| Key finding | Proposes that as cerebral organoids become more complex, they may develop consciousness, which would raise ethical issues regarding their moral status, and advocates for a precautionary principle. |
Abstract
Human cerebral organoids are three-dimensional biological cultures grown in the laboratory to mimic as closely as possible the cellular composition, structure, and function of the corresponding organ, the brain. For now, cerebral organoids lack blood vessels and other characteristics of the human brain, but are also capable of having coordinated electrical activity. They have been usefully employed for the study of several diseases and the development of the nervous system in unprecedented ways. Research on human cerebral organoids is proceeding at a very fast pace and their complexity is bound to improve. This raises the question of whether cerebral organoids will also be able to develop the unique feature of the human brain, consciousness. If this is the case, some ethical issues would arise. In this article, we discuss the necessary neural correlates and constraints for the emergence of consciousness according to some of the most debated neuroscientific theories. Based on this, we consider what the moral status of a potentially conscious brain organoid might be, in light of ethical and ontological arguments. We conclude by proposing a precautionary principle and some leads for further investigation. In particular, we consider the outcomes of some very recent experiments as entities of a potential new kind.