When Neuroscience and the Law Collide

Neuroscience data is increasingly being used to help make legal arguments in both civil and criminal proceedings. This lecture will review the latest neuroscience being used in United States courtrooms. Case studies will be used to illustrate a variety of neuroscience and legal questions including: Can neuroscience help us diagnose psychotic disorders (i.e., schizophrenia)? Can neuroscience help us understand psychopaths? Can neuroscience help us understand IQ? Can neuroscience predict future antisocial behavior? Each of the case studies will consider state-of-the-art analyses of MRI data, including functional MRI, structural MRI, and diffusion MRI.