Born badly, or just hit?
A new study suggests that damage to a key part of the brain involved in judgment and emotional regulation could explain why some people suddenly begin to show violent or criminal behaviors.
The findings support previous investigations that show that injuries to the head are much more common to the U.S. prison population than among the general public.
“This work could have implications for the real world for both medicine and law,” said Dr. Christopher M. Filley, emeritus professor of Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and co -author of the new study.
“Doctors can be able to better identify patients at risk and provide effective early interventions,” he added. “And the courts may have to consider brain damage when they evaluate criminal liability.”
Filley’s team examined the brain explorations of 17 people who began to commit crimes after trauma in the head caused by cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain injuries (TBIS).
They then compared these explorations with more than 700 people with different neurological problems, such as memory loss or depression.
The researchers found that the fascicul to the right of the brain was the most constantly injured area among people engaged in criminal behaviors.
“This part of the brain, the fasciculus not uncocined, is a white matter path that serves as a cable connection regions that govern emotion and decision -making,” Filay explained.
“When this connection is altered on the right side, a person’s ability to regulate emotions and making moral decisions can be severely damaged,” he added.
Past research has shown that people with a history of traumatic brain injury are more likely to fight with depression, substance abuse, aggression and antisocial behavior.
They also have a greater probability of sexually acting and they have no self -confidence when it comes to inappropriate thoughts and behaviors, even if they are completely recovered.
A report of diseases control and prevention centers estimates that between 25% and 87% of inmates in North -American prisons and prisons have suffered an injury to the head or TBI, compared to only 8.5% of the general public.
Studies also show that incarcerated populations are significantly more likely to include people with moderate to severe TBIs and a history of repeated head injuries. In many cases, the damage took place before the person committed his first crime.
As a result, an increasing number of defense lawyers go to neuroscience in the room room, citing brain injuries as a possible explanation for the criminal behavior of their customers.
“We are seeing much more in court than before, and I think it will continue,” said Judge Morris B. Hoffman from the 2nd judicial court in Colorado in Colorado to Discover Magazine.
An analysis found more than 2,800 legal opinions between 2005 and 2015 when the criminal defendants of the United States used neuroscience as part of their defense.
About 20% of those who presented this type of tests obtained a favorable form of result, be it a new hearing, a reversal or even a more lenient period for legal procedures.
New findings on right -wing damage to the fasciculus brain can strengthen these arguments.
“Although it is widely accepted that brain injuries can lead to problems with the memory or motor function, the role of the brain when guiding social behaviors as crime is more controversial,” said Dr. Isaiah Kletenik, a neurology assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the main author of the study.
He said that the research raises important ethical issues on guilt and free will.
“Should it make a factor of brain injury in the way we judge criminal behavior? Causality in science is not defined in the same way as guilt in the eyes of the law,” Kletank thought.
“However, our results provide useful data that can help inform this discussion and contribute to our growing knowledge of how social behavior is mediated by the brain.”
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