The Law and Neuroscience Blog

Neurolaw and Psychopathy

One fascinating issue that we are exploring as part of the LANP is the neural underpinnings of psychopathy.  Led by Kent Kiehl--who did his PhD at UBC with Robert Hare of PCL-R fame--this research has the potential to not only further our understanding of the psychopathic mind, but also to change our perception of their moral and legal culpability.  With the assistance of a mobile fMRI, Kiehl and his associates have already scanned more than 700+ incarcerated psychopaths.   Given both how disproportionally violent psychopaths are and how little we can currently do for them in terms of treatment, this research could have several policy implications.  As such, this is an issue that will recur on this blog in the months and years to come.  For now, I thought it might be helpful to provide readers with some links to interesting articles, books, and videos about psychopathy:

1. Robert Hare, Without Conscience:  The Disturbing World of the Psycopaths Among Us.
2. Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work.
3. Hervey Cleckley's ground-breaking The Mask of Sanity (out of print).
4. Special Volume of Neuroethics dedicated to psychopathy.
   
5. The New Yorker article on Kiehl's research entitled "Suffering Souls."
6. Video on psychopathy and brain imaging--although it is admittedly outdated.
7. Articles on forensic psychologist Park Dietz can be found here and here.
8. Scientific American Mind article entitled, "What 'Psychopath' Means."

The Neuroprediction of Violence

"There's the King Messenger. He's in prison now, being punished: and the trial doesn't

even begin till next Wednesday: and of course the crime comes last of all."

"Suppose he never commits the crime?"

"That would be all the better, wouldn't it?"

Alice felt there was no denying that.

"Of course it would  be all the better," she said:

"but it wouldn't be all the better his being punished."

"You're wrong there, at any rate," said the Queen.

"Were you ever punished?"

"Only for faults," said Alice.

"And you were all the better for it, I know!" the Queen said triumphantly.

"Yes, but then I had done the things I was punished for," said Alice: "that makes

all the difference."

"But if you hadn't done them," the Queen said, "that would have been better still;

better and better, and better!"

                                                            --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

 

Gazzaniga on Neurolaw

Here are two interesting videos by our own Mike Gazzaniga.  The first (see here) is a recent interview with folks from the NSF--which addresses the various ways neuroscience could impact the law.  The second (see here) is a bloggingheads.tv discussion between Gazzaniga and Carl Zimmer.  Happy viewing!

Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences and the Law

Steven Erickson and Alan Felthous recently edited a special issue of Behavioral Sciences and the Law entitled, "The Neuroscience and Psychology of Moral Decision Making and the Law."  The issue is full of interesting contributions, so readers of this blog should check it out!

Josh Greene and fMRI Lie Detection in the News

Our own Josh Greene has generated a lot of buzz lately with his recent work with Joe Paxton on using fMRI for lie detection:

1. Bob Holmes, "Honest Joes and Cheaters Unmasked in Brain Scans," ABC News (2009).
2. Adi Narayan, "The fMRI Scan: A Better Lie Detector," TIME (2009).
3. "Dishonesty Involves Activity in Control-Related Brain Networks," Science Daily (2009).

The research article itself can be found here:

Greene, J.D., Paxton, J.M. (in press) "Patterns of neural activity associated with honest and dishonest moral decisions."  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

Congrats to Josh and Joe on some well deserved publicity!

What is neurolaw, anyway?

For those of you who are understandably new to neurolaw, I thought it might be helpful to provide some links to some survey pieces from both professional journals and the popular press.  For starters, here are two illuminating articles written by some of the members of the LANP:

1. Michael Gazzaniga,"The Law and Neuroscience," Neuron (2008).
2. Dean Mobb et al., "Law, Responsibility, and the Brain," PLoS Biology (2007).

And here are two pieces from the popular press:

1. Robert Hotz, "Your Brain, Your Honor, Will Take the Witness Stand," WSJ (2009).
2. Jeffrey Rosen, "The Brain on the Stand," NYT (2007).

These four pieces should whet your appetite.  In the event that you want to delve further into some of the issues that are raised therein, you should check out some of the side-bars on this blog--which contain several links to relevant researchers, webpages, books, and blogs.

Welcome to the Law and Neuroscience Blog

 

Welcome to the The Law and Neuroscience Blog--which we have created to provide an on-line forum where the members of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience can share their ideas and interact with not only other researchers but also with the interested public more generally.  One of the main goals of the blog is to provide a resource with information about cutting edge research at the cross-roads of neuroscience, law, and philosophy.