Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Aharoni, E; Funk, C; Sinnott-Armstrong, W; Gazzaniga, M
Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
March 2008

Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? To answer this question, we must first specify legal criteria for criminal responsibility and then ask how neurological findings can be used to determine whether particular defendants meet those criteria. Cognitive neuroscience may speak to at least two familiar conditions of criminal responsibility: intention and sanity. Functional neuroimaging studies in motor planning, awareness of actions, agency, social contract reasoning, and theory of mind, among others, have recently targeted a small assortment of brain networks thought to be instrumental in such determinations. Advances in each of these areas bring specificity to the problems underlying the application of neuroscience to criminal law.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI

EISSN

1749-6632

ISSN

0077-8923

Publication Date

March 2008

Volume

1124

Start / End Page

145 / 160

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Responsibility
  • Neurosciences
  • Jurisprudence
  • Insanity Defense
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
  • Crime
  • Brain
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Aharoni, E., Funk, C., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., & Gazzaniga, M. (2008). Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124, 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.007
Aharoni, Eyal, Chadd Funk, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Michael Gazzaniga. “Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1124 (March 2008): 145–60. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.007.
Aharoni E, Funk C, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Gazzaniga M. Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2008 Mar;1124:145–60.
Aharoni, Eyal, et al. “Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1124, Mar. 2008, pp. 145–60. Epmc, doi:10.1196/annals.1440.007.
Aharoni E, Funk C, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Gazzaniga M. Can neurological evidence help courts assess criminal responsibility? Lessons from law and neuroscience. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2008 Mar;1124:145–160.
Journal cover image

Published In

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI

EISSN

1749-6632

ISSN

0077-8923

Publication Date

March 2008

Volume

1124

Start / End Page

145 / 160

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Responsibility
  • Neurosciences
  • Jurisprudence
  • Insanity Defense
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
  • Crime
  • Brain