Given the operational definitions of neuroethics, studies addressing the neural basis of consciousness, morality and healing, and ethical issues in neuroscience research and practice are a core focus of the work of the Center for Neurotechnology Studies of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Areas of ongoing research interest include:

• Philosophical and pragmatic understanding of brain-mind relationships
• Neurophilosophical considerations of the human person and human condition
• Mechanisms of intention and action and implications for the concept of free will
• Limitations and applications of various neuroscientific techniques such as neuroimaging, brain stimulation, pharmacology, neurosurgery, and neurotransplantation
• Philosophical and ethical issues of neurogenetics
• Pragmatic and moral issues and implications of neurotechnology
• Applications and limitations of neuropsychopharmacology as relates to the question of treatment versus enhancement
• The neuroethics of BIOSOMA (biological-social-machine interactions)
• Relevance of neurocentric concepts and definitions of personhood, self, life/death (i.e.- as in traumatic brain injury, comatose/vegetative states, congenital neurological impairment, dementia, etc.) to clinical, and sociocultural practice(s), and the ethics of dignity and autonomy
• The neuroscience of pain and suffering, as relevant to an ethics and philosophy of medicine
• Neural bases of spiritual effects and practices, as relevant to philosophical and ethical issues in health, medicine and society.
• Issues and problems arising in, and from the nature of taxonomy and diagnosis in psychiatry
• Neuroscientific knowledge of brain-mind and the questions of speciesism and prejudice