Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Ending One's Life in Advance.

Margaret Pabst Battin, Brent M Kious

    The Hastings Center Report
    |May 24, 2021
    PubMed
    Summary

    Individuals with Alzheimer disease face difficult end-of-life choices. A proposed advance directive implant could offer a way for competent patients to control their own death, avoiding burden on caregivers.

    Related Concept Videos

    You might also read

    Related Articles

    Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

    Sort by
    Same author

    Multiplying Entities Beyond Necessity: Why We Don't Need Extended Minds.

    The American journal of bioethics : AJOB·2026
    Same author

    Contemporary Ethical Considerations in Psychiatric Neurosurgery.

    Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery·2025
    Same author

    Characteristics of Youth Crisis App Users: Mental Health Service Access and Barriers and Perceptions of Helpfulness.

    JAACAP open·2025
    Same author

    Artifact Identification and Mitigation Strategies for Longitudinal Neural Data Collection Onboard the Medtronic Percept DBS Device<sup></sup>.

    medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2025
    Same author

    Author Correction: Disruption of neural periodicity predicts clinical response after deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Nature medicine·2025
    Same author

    How Much Does Suffering Matter?

    Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees·2025

    Area of Science:

    • Bioethics
    • Neurology
    • Medical Technology

    Background:

    • Alzheimer disease presents prolonged end-of-life trajectories.
    • Current end-of-life options for dementia patients are often inadequate or rely on others' actions.
    • The burden on caregivers and moral distress for patients is significant.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To explore enhanced autonomy for individuals with early-stage dementia regarding end-of-life decisions.
    • To propose a novel technological solution for self-determined death in dementia.
    • To address the ethical challenges of end-of-life care in neurodegenerative diseases.

    Main Methods:

    • A thought experiment is presented.
    • The concept of an "advance directive implant" is introduced.
    • Ethical and practical considerations of the proposed technology are discussed.

    Main Results:

    • The proposed implant aims to provide a mechanism for competent individuals to pre-arrange their death.
    • This technology could bypass the need for external intervention or cooperation from others.
    • It offers a potential solution to avoid prolonged suffering and caregiver burden.

    Conclusions:

    • The advance directive implant offers a novel approach to patient autonomy in the context of dementia.
    • This concept warrants further ethical and technical consideration.
    • It could fundamentally alter end-of-life care paradigms for neurodegenerative diseases.
    Keywords:
    Alzheimer's diseaseadvance directivedementiaeuthanasiamedical devices

    Related Experiment Videos