Neuroscientist Protests Neuroscience Convention Over Animal Research

On Monday, when the Society for Neuroscience Convention kicked off in San Diego with some 32,000 attendees, one neuroscientist stayed outside the Convention Center, holding a blown up photo of a monkey with a probe in its skull.

Dr. Lawrence Hansen is a professor of neuroscience and pathology at the University of California at San Diego and head of the neuropathy core of the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. He's also an animal rights activist.

Earlier this month, in an article on animal research published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Hansen argued that neuroscientists are too entrenched in "groupthink" and too biased by their own training and research agendas to objectively evaluate the ethics of invasive experiments on animals.

And scientists like himself, who challenge the ethical and scientific validity of animal research, are "often viewed by our groupthink scientific colleagues as untrustworthy or even treasonous agents provocateurs."

Over a decade ago, Hansen launched a campaign to end dog-vivisection labs for physiology and pharmacology classes at UCSD, even wearing a white and red "no more dog labs" button on his commencement gown. After a few years of pressure, the university dropped the labs.

In 2007, he was one of half a dozen physicians who sued the University of California, San Francisco, for violations of the Animal Welfare Act over experiments being performed on dogs and monkeys. He told the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: "As a taxpayer, I'd rather be supporting research that actually benefits human patients."

At the Neuroscience Convention protest, Hansen told the San Diego Union-Tribune that inflicting pain on animals is unnecessary. Alternatives like digital imaging are getting increasingly sophisticated and, rather than drill holes into the heads of animals, he's willing to wait a few years until the technology is perfected.

In past op-eds, Hansen has called on activists to watchdog researchers because "the regulatory deck is stacked against the animals." His choice to study human brains instead of turning to unreliable animal models clearly hasn't hindered his career. He's also not afraid to share his views about animal research in the classroom, and he's won over a dozen teaching awards.

With organizations like the Society for Neuroscience continuing to push animal research, and even opposing such modest measures as the Great Ape Protection Act to stop chimpanzee experiments, it often seems like the treatment of other species in research is the one thing scientists don't want questioned.

Monday's protest, coordinated by San Diego Animal Advocates and Stop Animal Exploitation Now, was focused on "opening a dialogue" about the use of primates in research. Dr. Lawrence Hansen may be outnumbered, but he's not alone; some of the convention-goers did stop to talk with the protesters, acknowledging that neuroscientists need to have a serious discussion on the issue. And with people like Hansen advocating for animals, there's hope for scientific and moral advancement.

Photo credit: fPat