Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This presentation examines how the legitimacy of invasive neurotechnologies in psychiatry is negotiated in Germany. Focusing on deep brain stimulation, it explores how these debates shape understandings of psychiatric conditions and their potential treatability.

Paper long abstract

The ethical evaluation and clinical legitimacy of invasive neurotechnologies vary significantly across medical conditions. While invasive procedures such as temporal lobe resection have become established treatments for neurological disorders like epilepsy, comparable interventions for psychiatric conditions are today hardly conceivable as legitimate therapeutic options. As neurotechnologies continue to expand, questions of legitimacy and appropriate fields of application have therefore become central to debates surrounding their use, particularly when psychiatric conditions are concerned. Focusing on Germany, I trace how different actors have framed and negotiated the role of invasive neurotechnologies in the treatment of psychiatric conditions. The analysis draws on a situational analysis of heterogeneous materials, including historical documents, policy papers, interviews, and ethnographic fieldnotes.

The presentation outlines key moments in the development of invasive neurotechnologies and reconstructs positions that have emerged over time. Building on this, I focus on deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a case in the treatment of psychiatric conditions. Rather than following a linear trajectory of stabilisation, the development of DBS has been characterised by shifting expectations, controversies, and optimism and setback. The presentation therefore examines how DBS has been framed as an experimental intervention, a promising therapeutic option, or a contested treatment pathway. Attention is paid to how actors (clinicians, technology developers, psychiatrists, and patient organisations) have positioned themselves towards the use of DBS for psychiatric conditions. The presentation concludes by reflecting on how neurotechnologies contribute to understandings of psychiatric conditions and expectations regarding their potential treatability.