The Telefónica Foundation Space hosted on Monday, March 11, 2026, a new session of the TELOS Forum, framed within the Observatory of Digital Rights. The event brought together two international references in neuroscience to analyze the impact of neurotechnologies and social networks on the human brain.
Debate on neurotechnologies and digital rights
The neurologist Álvaro Pascual-Leone, professor at Harvard Medical School, and the neuroscientist Mariano Sigman, international researcher and popularizer, participated in the debate. Pascual-Leone defined neurotechnologies as methods capable of reading or writing in the brain, including techniques such as magnetic or electrical stimulation, ultrasounds, implants, and genetic procedures.
Pascual-Leone stressed that thousands of patients with resistant depression are currently improving thanks to these advances. However, he warned about the risks associated with irreversible interventions and the urgency of establishing regulations before technological development advances unchecked.
"If you cross the river, you have gone too far" - Álvaro Pascual-Leone, Harvard Medical School
Social networks and volitional control
During the session, Mariano Sigman addressed the design of social networks and their direct influence on the brain's reward system. He explained that these platforms activate dopaminergic circuits related to motivation and expectation, which can affect users' self-control capacity.
"Social networks are designed to act directly on the brain's reward system, activating dopaminergic circuits linked to motivation and expectation" - Mariano Sigman, neuroscientist
Sigman described these digital environments as a "digital fentanyl" and warned that individual self-regulation is not always sufficient, especially in minors. The researcher defended the need for stricter regulatory frameworks to protect the most vulnerable users.
Future of cerebral reading and writing
Pascual-Leone added that the central question is not whether it will be possible to read or write in the brain, but when and to what extent. According to the neurologist, this capacity could be significantly expanded in the coming decades, which poses new ethical and legal challenges.
The Digital Rights Observatory promotes the debate
The Digital Rights Observatory, a public-private initiative promoted by Red.es and attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, organized the meeting. Its objective is to foster multidisciplinary debate and promote the effective implementation of the Charter of Digital Rights in a constantly accelerating technological context.
The complete meeting is available in the media library of the Telefónica Foundation Space.