Real-Life Decision Making
As a neuroscientist, you have to make some big decisions. If you're working
in research, it can involve deciding what types of animals to do studies on:
a rodent or a piglet? Piglets are more expensive but have brains closer to
human brains, so the research could garner greater interest from clinical
researchers. This is something that came up recently for David Mintz, an assistant
professor of anesthesiology and an attending physician. Mintz
also has to deal with decisions in the operating room, sometimes with life-or-death
consequences.
Imagine this: You are a neuroscientist researching the neurological disease
Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an inherited disease. All people
who have inherited the gene will develop the disease in the future. There
is no cure for Huntington's.
You are working with a group of people who volunteered to be part of the
study because they have a parent with Huntington's. For part of the study,
they agree to be tested for the gene. This is a big decision for them.
One of your subjects, a man named David, was very upset when he learned
he had inherited the gene and will, at some point in his life, develop Huntington's.
He's not sure he can continue with the study because he is so upset.
One day, his doctor calls you. David told her that he was participating
in the study, but he hasn't told her his genetic testing results. She wants
to know: does he have the gene?