Biological Explanations: Neural Explanations Flashcards
What do neural explanations state?
The brain of criminals may be different to non criminals
What do medial explanations focus on?
- Structural differences in regions of the brain
- Function of neurotransmitters
What are criminals more likely to have?
Have had a head injury than non criminals. 8.5% of the general US population have has a head injury compared with 60% of the prison population
What did Raine do?
Cited 71 different studies showing evidence that murderers, psychopaths and violent individuals have reduced activity in the pre frontal cortex
What is the prefrontal cortex involved in?
Regulating emotional, controlling mortal behaviour and impulsiveness and control
What did Raine also look at?
Subcritical structures such as the thalamus and amygdala
What is Raine do?
41 American murderers who had been found guilty by reason of insanity and matched them with 41 normal people
What did Raine find?
The murders showed asymmetry within the amygdala, activity was reduced on the left but increased on the right
What did Seo et al suggest?
Low levels of serotonin may make individuals more likely to be impulsive and aggressive
What has noradrenaline been linked to?
Both very high and very low levels have been associated with aggression, violence and criminality
What are 3 evaluation points?
- Good control group
- PET scanning is non invasive
- PET scans are still in development so they are easy to misread
