The Ethics of Knowing: Using Neuroscience to Inform Prenatal Screening Practices for Intellectual and Developmental Disability

For her human rights capstone, Annika Penzer enrolled in the course NBIO 101: “Neruoscience Ethics” and produced a research paper examining how recent advances in neuroscience challenge the assumptions behind prenatal screening for intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). While screening technologies promise informed choice, they often present IDD in deficit-based terms, ignoring neuroscientific evidence of cognitive variability, plasticity, and emotional intelligence. This paper argues for counseling practices that incorporate both scientific nuance and the lived experiences of individuals with IDD, shifting the focus from preventing disability to supporting diverse forms of cognition. By bridging neuroscience and ethics, Penzer calls for more just and accurate approaches to reproductive decision-making. Student project deposited by department for archival purposes. Original work unavailable for public download due to permission restriction preferences of the author.