2007/01/01 by Chris Frith, Owen D. Jones, Hakwan Lau +1 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Cognition #Cognitive science #Deception detection and forensic psychology #Epistemology #Free Will and Agency #Free will #Law #Mental health #Mental illness #Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations #Neurolaw #Neuroscience #Philosophy #Political science #Psychiatry #Psychology #Social neuroscience
paper · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050103
openalex publication_date 2007/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In perhaps the first attempt to link the brain to mental illness, Hippocrates elegantly wrote that it is the brain that makes us mad or delirious. Epitomizing one of the fundamental assumptions of contemporary neuroscience, Hippocrates’ words resonate far beyond the classic philosophical puzzle of mind and body and posit that our behavior, no matter how monstrous, lies at the mercy of our brain’s integrity. While clinicopathological observations have long pointed to several putative neurobiological systems as important in antisocial and violent criminal behavior, recent advances in brain-imaging have the potential to provide unparalleled insight. Consequently, brain-imaging studies have reinvigorated the neurophilosophical and legal debate of whether we are free agents in control of our own actions or mere prisoners of a biologically determined brain. In this chapter, we review studies pointing to brain dysfunction in criminally violent individuals and address a range of philosophical and practical issues concerning the use of brainimaging in court. We finally lay out several guidelines for its use in the legal system.