Filter by author: Ryuma Shineha

Recent technological advancements have expanded our capacity to observe, decode, and modulate human brain activity. As these brain information (BI) technologies evolve, it becomes increasingly important to address relevant ethical, legal, and social issues and to communicate them effectively to the public. However, meaningful dialogue has been hindered by a limited understanding of how attitudes toward BI technologies differ between experts and the public. To address this gap, we examined the perspectives of both groups through surveys involving neuroscientists (N = 108) and non-expert citizens (N = 2000). Our findings indicate that, while both parties are concerned about data governance, non-expert citizens also expressed interest in threats to psychological continuity, whereas neuroscientists prioritize scientific content and the risks of stigmatization. These differences underscore the importance of framing discourse on BI applications to encompass both concerns raised by two prominent stakeholders, fostering constructive exchanges grounded in mutual understanding.

The rapid spread of technologies involving the application of “Genetic Modification (GM)” raised the need for science communication on this new technology in society. To consider the communication on GM in the society, an understanding of the current mass media is required. This paper shows the whole picture of newspaper discourses on GM in Japan. For the Japanese public, newspapers represent one of the major sources of information on GM. We subjected the two Japanese newspapers with the largest circulation, the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun, to an analysis of the full text of approximately 4000 articles on GM published over the past to perform an assessment of the change of reportage on GM. As for the most important results, our analysis shows that there are two significant shifts with respect to the major topics addressed in articles on GM by Japanese newspapers.