Adrian Raine on Brain Mechanisms and the Criminal Mind

The Philomathean Society presents a lectured titled, “Brain Mechanisms and the Criminal Mind: Neuroethical and Neurolegal Implications,” by Dr. Adrian Raine. The talk will talk place this Thursday, Nov 9th at 5:30 pm in David Rittenhouse Labs room A2. Below you can find event details and brief description of what the talk will cover. Please use this link to register for a spot.

The rapid developments taking place in neuroscience are creating an uncomfortable tension between our concepts of responsibility and retribution on the one hand, and understanding and mercy on the other. Neurocriminology is a new field which is increasingly documenting brain impairments in violent offenders. This presentation examines the implications of this body of knowledge for the criminal justice system. If the neural circuitry underlying morality is compromised in psychopaths, how moral is it of us to punish prisoners as harshly as we do? Should neurobiological risk factors be used to help us better predict who amongst us is at risk for future violence? And how can we change the brain to change antisocial and violent behavior? These are the thorny neuroethical and neurolegal challenges that we need to address in the not-too-distant future.