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Topic · Cognitive Neuroscience

Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations

Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations is a research topic within Cognitive Neuroscience. Science Explorer counts 16k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the ethical and societal implications of neuroenhancement technologies, focusing on the use of prescription stimulants and cognitive enhancement drugs, the impact of medicalization and pharmaceuticalization, neuroethics, brain imaging, and the concept of moral enhancement. The discussions also extend to transhumanism and the broader implications for human identity and autonomy.

  • Neuroenhancement
  • Cognitive Enhancement
  • Prescription Stimulants
  • Ethical Issues
  • Medicalization
  • Neuroethics
  • Brain Imaging
  • Moral Enhancement
  • Transhumanism
  • Pharmaceuticalization
Research works
16k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+25%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
37% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations

Which countries lead Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.1k and 386 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.1k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 386 works
  3. 3 Germany 317 works
  4. 4 Spain 224 works
  5. 5 India 201 works
  6. 6 China 175 works
  7. 7 Italy 168 works
  8. 8 Canada 150 works
  9. 9 Russia 142 works
  10. 10 Brazil 141 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 36.9%United Kingdom: 12.8%Germany: 10.5%Spain: 7.4%6 others listed: 32.4%37%largest
United States1,111 · 36.9%United Kingdom386 · 12.8%Germany317 · 10.5%Spain224 · 7.4%6 others listed977 · 32.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Oxford publishes the most Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research, followed by Harvard University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 37 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 29 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 24 works
  4. 4 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 20 works
  5. 5 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 19 works
  6. 6 CHDI FoundationUnited States 19 works
  7. 7 University of TorontoCanada 18 works
  8. 8 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 18 works
  9. 9 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 16 works
  10. 10 Universidad de GranadaSpain 16 works

Who are the leading researchers in Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations include George Davey Smith, Richard M. Ryan and Ronald C. Kessler.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Richard M. Ryan United States 395k citations
  3. 3 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  4. 4 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  5. 5 Peter Christian Gøtzsche Denmark 292k citations
  6. 6 Andrea C. Tricco Canada 258k citations
  7. 7 Josep María Haro Spain 250k citations
  8. 8 Mark Gerstein United States 250k citations
  9. 9 Isabela M. Benseñor Brazil 245k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations?

The most cited paper in Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations is "Minds, brains, and programs" (John Rogers Searle, 1980), with 6,674 citations. Next come "The Worldwide Prevalence of ADHD: A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis" (5,375) and "AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society: Opportunities, Risks, Principles, and Recommendations" (4,502).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Minds, brains, and programs John Rogers Searle · Behavioral and Brain Sciences Sep 1980 6,674
2 The Worldwide Prevalence of ADHD: A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis Guilherme V. Polanczyk, Maurício Silva de Lima, Bernardo Lessa Horta et al. · American Journal of Psychiatry Review Jun 2007 5,375
3 AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society: Opportunities, Risks, Principles, and Recommendations Luciano Floridi, Josh Cowls, Monica Beltrametti et al. · Minds and Machines Open access 25 Nov 2018 4,502
4 How the Mind Works Steven A. Pinker · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Jun 1999 3,758
5 The Prevalence and Correlates of Adult ADHD in the United States: Results From the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Ronald C. Kessler · American Journal of Psychiatry Open access Apr 2006 2,965
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research done?

The largest centres of Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Madrid (Spain) and Moscow (Russia).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 93 works
  2. 2 New YorkUnited States 73 works
  3. 3 MadridSpain 63 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 57 works
  5. 5 MunichGermany 48 works
  6. 6 OxfordUnited Kingdom 41 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 41 works
  8. 8 SantiagoChile 40 works
  9. 9 Washington D.C.United States 37 works
  10. 10 BeijingChina 37 works
See Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations on the map

Where is the best place to study Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Oxford, Harvard University and Utrecht University score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.41%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universität HamburgUtrecht UniversityHarvard UniversityUniversity of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 74.920.0%6.2×37 -7.3%
2Harvard UniversityUnited States 71.920.1%2.1×29 +52.9%
3Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 66.726.1%4.4×14 +29.1%
4Universität HamburgGermany 64.133.8%3.3×10 +92.6%
5Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 63.622.3%5.4×20 +104.4%
6King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 62.321.8%4.2×16 +40.2%
7University of BonnGermany 62.026.5%7.6×15 +203.9%
8Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 61.814.3%6.8×19 +17.9%
9University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 61.417.3%3.5×18 +47.8%
10Technical University of MunichGermany 60.831.9%2.8×10 +25.8%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations, country by country

Is Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 25% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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