ABSTRACT
The ethics of educational neuroscience, or educational neuroethics, is an ongoing dialogue between researchers, educationalists and ethicists about the principles and practice of educational neuroscience research. Educational neuroscience takes the tools of neuroscience and applies them to understanding and optimising learning in the classroom, to enhance cognition; in the process, it presents an interesting ethical challenge. Artificial enhancement may seem like science fiction, but it’s already part of education. Critical to understanding the potential consequences of neuromodulation in childhood is the idea of neuroplasticity: The ability of the brain to change, usually in response to the environment. Predicting the consequences of neuromodulation arguably becomes a more acute problem if we think about the when of intervention. One of the areas of greatest potential for educational neuroscience is predicting which children may go on to show educational difficulties before they start school.
