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Rethinking ethics in interdisciplinary and big data-driven neuroscience projects

Nature Mental Health volume 2, pages 1128–1130 (2024)Cite this article

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The focus of much of contemporary research ethics is on compliance with established protocols. However, large data-driven neuroscience research raises new ethical concerns that have no agreed-upon solution. Here we reflect on these challenges and propose better integration of public and patient involvement in this evolving landscape.

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Acknowledgements

Funded provided by the European Union. Complementary funding was received by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee (10131373and 10038599) and Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) National Key Project of ‘Inter-governmental International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation’ (2023YFE0199700).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Bernd Carsten Stahl, George Ogoh & Bernd Stahl

  2. Centre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS), Charite Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, CCM, Charite-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Gunter Schumann, Nilakshi Vaidya, Esther Hitchen, Elli Polemiti, Hedi Kebir, Tristram A. Lett & Jean-Charles Roy

  3. German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Berlin, Germany

    Gunter Schumann

  4. Center for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS), Institute for Science and Technology of Brain-inspired Intelligence (ISTBI), Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Gunter Schumann, Tianye Jia, Yanting Gong, Yunman Xia & Xiao Chang

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Gunter Schumann

  6. Research Division of Mind and Brain, Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Henrik Walter & Henrik Walter

  7. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Andreas Heinz, Nilakshi Vaidya, Emin Serin, Esther Hitchen, Elli Polemiti, Hedi Kebir, Tristram A. Lett & Jean-Charles Roy

  8. Department of Biochemistry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Markus Ralser

  9. Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Markus Ralser

  10. Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany

    Markus Ralser

  11. Berlin Institute of Health at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Center of Digital Health, Berlin, Germany

    Sven Twardziok, Marcel Jentsch, Roland Eils, Ulrike-Helene Taron & Tatjana Schütz

  12. Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

    Antoine Bernas & Andre Marquand

  13. Institute of Meteorology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Kerstin Schepanski, Jamie Banks & Maja Neidhart

  14. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Tobias Banaschewski & Nathalie Holz

  15. Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Karina Jansone, Nina Christmann, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Heike Tost, Emanuel Schwarz & Argyris Stringaris

  16. Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

    Frauke Nees, Sebastian Siehl, Beke Seefried & Rieke Aden

  17. Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Ole A. Andreassen, Lars T. Westlye, Dennis van der Meer, Sara Fernandez & Rikka Kjelkenes

  18. K.G. Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Ole A. Andreassen & Lars T. Westlye

  19. Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Lars T. Westlye & Helga Ask

  20. Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    Helga Ask

  21. Department for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Michael Rapp, Mira Tschorn & Sarah Jane Böttger

  22. Institute of Science and Technology, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Gaia Novarino & Lena Marr

  23. Event Lab, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Casanova, Barcelona, Spain

    Mel Slater

  24. Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK

    Mel Slater

  25. Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Campus de Mundet, Barcelona, Spain

    Guillem Feixas Viapiana, Francisco Eiroa Orosa, Jaime Gallego & Alvaro Pastor

  26. Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital of Bonn & University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Andreas J. Forstner, Per Hoffmann, Markus M. Nöthen, Isabelle Claus, Abigail Miller, Carina M. Mathey & Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach

  27. Ksilink, Strasbourg, France

    Peter Sommer, Myrto Patraskaki, Johannes Wilbertz & Karen Schmitt

  28. Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm), Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS) UMR1106, Marseille, France

    Viktor Jirsa, Spase Petkoski, Séverine Pitel, Lisa Otten & Anastasios-Polykarpos Athanasiadis

  29. Virtual Bodyworks, Barcelona, Spain

    Charlie Pearmund, Bernhard Spanlang, Elena Alvarez, Mavi Sanchez & Arantxa Giner

  30. Institute of Geography, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany

    Sören Hese & Paul Renner

  31. Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State University/Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Vince Calhoun & Jingyu Liu

  32. Concentris Research Management, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany

    Ameli Schwalber

  33. Imaging Genetics Center, Mark & Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Paul Thompson

  34. Google, Inc, Mountain View, CA, USA

    Nicholas Clinton

  35. Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Sylvane Desrivières

  36. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Allan H. Young

Authors
  1. Bernd Carsten Stahl
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  2. George Ogoh
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  3. Gunter Schumann
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  4. Henrik Walter
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Consortia

On behalf of the environMENTAL consortium

  • Gunter Schumann
  • , Henrik Walter
  • , Andreas Heinz
  • , Markus Ralser
  • , Sven Twardziok
  • , Nilakshi Vaidya
  • , Antoine Bernas
  • , Emin Serin
  • , Marcel Jentsch
  • , Esther Hitchen
  • , Elli Polemiti
  • , Hedi Kebir
  • , Tristram A. Lett
  • , Jean-Charles Roy
  • , Roland Eils
  • , Ulrike-Helene Taron
  • , Tatjana Schütz
  • , Kerstin Schepanski
  • , Jamie Banks
  • , Tobias Banaschewski
  • , Karina Jansone
  • , Nina Christmann
  • , Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
  • , Heike Tost
  • , Nathalie Holz
  • , Emanuel Schwarz
  • , Argyris Stringaris
  • , Maja Neidhart
  • , Frauke Nees
  • , Sebastian Siehl
  • , Beke Seefried
  • , Rieke Aden
  • , Ole A. Andreassen
  • , Lars T. Westlye
  • , Dennis van der Meer
  • , Sara Fernandez
  • , Rikka Kjelkenes
  • , Helga Ask
  • , Michael Rapp
  • , Mira Tschorn
  • , Sarah Jane Böttger
  • , Andre Marquand
  • , Gaia Novarino
  • , Lena Marr
  • , Mel Slater
  • , Guillem Feixas Viapiana
  • , Francisco Eiroa Orosa
  • , Jaime Gallego
  • , Alvaro Pastor
  • , Andreas J. Forstner
  • , Per Hoffmann
  • , Markus M. Nöthen
  • , Isabelle Claus
  • , Abigail Miller
  • , Carina M. Mathey
  • , Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach
  • , Peter Sommer
  • , Myrto Patraskaki
  • , Johannes Wilbertz
  • , Karen Schmitt
  • , Viktor Jirsa
  • , Spase Petkoski
  • , Séverine Pitel
  • , Lisa Otten
  • , Anastasios-Polykarpos Athanasiadis
  • , Charlie Pearmund
  • , Bernhard Spanlang
  • , Elena Alvarez
  • , Mavi Sanchez
  • , Arantxa Giner
  • , Sören Hese
  • , Paul Renner
  • , Tianye Jia
  • , Yanting Gong
  • , Yunman Xia
  • , Xiao Chang
  • , Vince Calhoun
  • , Jingyu Liu
  • , Ameli Schwalber
  • , Paul Thompson
  • , Nicholas Clinton
  • , Sylvane Desrivières
  • , Allan H. Young
  • , Bernd Stahl
  •  & George Ogoh

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernd Carsten Stahl.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Stahl, B.C., Ogoh, G., Schumann, G. et al. Rethinking ethics in interdisciplinary and big data-driven neuroscience projects. Nat. Mental Health 2, 1128–1130 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00320-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00320-3

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