#MedicalEthics

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approval process would allow new medications to be approved “very, very quickly,” according to a recent statement made by a prominent U.S. presidential candidate. The assertion, made at a high-profile live event, has ignited renewed debate about the potential of AI to revolutionize pharmaceutical regulation—raising questions of safety, ethics, and global implications, including for Thailand’s own drug approval landscape.

A remarkable case of a boy born without the cerebral hemispheres traditionally thought necessary for self-awareness is forcing scientists to reconsider longstanding beliefs about the nature of human consciousness, according to a provocative new account published on June 1 by Mind Matters News (mindmatters.ai). The report details the life and case notes of a child pseudonymously called “Joey,” who, despite being born with hydranencephaly—a devastating condition that obliterates most of the cerebral cortex—demonstrated clear signs of consciousness and a rich range of emotions, fundamentally challenging many of neuroscience’s most prominent theories.

A new era in the scientific quest to pinpoint where consciousness arises in the brain has arrived with the publication of an unprecedented collaborative study, revealing tantalizing clues—but offering no final answers. International neuroscientists, working with the backing of major institutions, have tested the top two competing theories about consciousness using sophisticated brain imaging across hundreds of participants, uncovering emerging insights with far-reaching implications for clinical medicine and philosophical understanding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released groundbreaking new recommendations to curb the growing trend of “medicalized” female genital mutilation (FGM) and strengthen care for survivors, a move hailed by global health experts as an essential step toward eliminating this harmful practice worldwide. This updated guidance is particularly relevant as rising evidence suggests that, despite global efforts to end FGM, a concerning number of procedures are being performed by healthcare professionals—a development with complex health, legal, and ethical implications.

In a development that could rewrite neuroscience textbooks, researchers have identified a specific brain region believed to be central to human consciousness, offering new hope for brain injury patients and transforming how medicine, law, and education understand the mind. This groundbreaking discovery, led by an international team of neuroscientists and reported in a recent Earth.com article, marks a critical step in unraveling one of science’s deepest mysteries: where and how consciousness arises in the human brain Earth.com.

A recent collaboration between Chinese and French neuroscientists has produced groundbreaking findings on the neural mechanisms underlying consciousness, signaling potential advances in how the human mind is understood and how altered states of awareness might be approached in medical settings. This research, as reported by the South China Morning Post, has captured the global scientific community’s attention by illuminating the intricate neural networks believed to govern conscious experience, and it raises important implications for the future of neuroscience, medicine, and even philosophy.

Scientists have taken a dramatic leap forward in unraveling one of neuroscience’s greatest mysteries: understanding how the human brain actually becomes consciously aware of the world around it. In an innovative experiment, a team from Beijing Normal University has identified a compact yet influential region deep within the brain—the thalamus—as the apparent “switchboard” that regulates conscious perception. Their findings, published in the journal Science, stand to reshape both scientific theory and practical approaches to neurological disorders worldwide, and offer thought-provoking implications for Thai medical practice and cultural conceptions of mind Wired.