Cultureplaces

Criminal Minds Are Different From Yours, Brain Scans Reveal by Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer Date: 04 March 2011  http://www.livescience.com/13083-criminals-brain-neuroscience-ethics.html The latest neuroscience research is presenting intriguing evidence that the brains of certain kinds of criminals are different from those of the rest of the population. While these findings could improve our understanding of criminal behavior, they also raise moral quandaries about whether and how society should use this knowledge to combat crime. The criminal mind In one recent study, scientists examined 21 people with  antisocial personality disorder  – a condition that characterizes many convicted criminals. Those with the disorder "typically have no regard for right and wrong. They may often violate the law and the rights of others," according to the Mayo Clinic. Brain scans of the antisocial people, compared with a control group of individuals without any mental...

June 12, 2011 Criminal Minds Adrian Raine thinks brain scans can identify children who may become killers Jonathan Barkat for The Chronicle Review A child in Adrian Raine's lab at the U. of Pennsylvania, wearing a cap with electrodes to measure brain activity. By Josh Fischman Philadelphia Along with several other researchers, he has pioneered the science of neurodevelopmental criminology. In adult offenders, juvenile delinquents, and even younger children, dozens of studies have pointed to brain features that seem to reduce fear, impair decision making, and blunt emotional reactions to others' distress. The studies have also highlighted body reactions that are signs of this pattern and are tied to criminality. "So if I could tell you, as a parent, that your child has a 75-percent chance of becoming a criminal, wouldn't you want to know and maybe have the chance to do something about it?" asks Raine.... Soci...