Neurorights

Neurorights are proposed moral and legal rights meant to protect the human brain and mind as neurotechnology gains the ability to read and alter neural activity. The term names a family of specific protections rather than a single right, and it sits alongside — but is not reducible to — existing rights such as privacy, bodily integrity, and freedom of thought.

Two influential taxonomies anchor the debate. Ienca and Andorno (2017) proposed four new rights: cognitive liberty, mental privacy, mental integrity, and psychological continuity. The Morningside Group and the subsequent NeuroRights Initiative (led by Rafael Yuste) frame five priorities: mental privacy, personal identity, agency or free will, fair access to mental augmentation, and protection from algorithmic bias. The two lists overlap heavily but differ in emphasis and legal framing.

A central open question is whether neurorights require genuinely new legal instruments or whether careful interpretation of existing human-rights law (privacy, integrity, non-discrimination, freedom of thought) already covers the risks. Critics warn that premature, technology-specific rights can entrench conceptual errors or lag the science; proponents argue that the brain's special status justifies explicit protection.