Classic Study: Raine et al (1997) A01 Flashcards
What was the aim of Raine et al (1997)?
To identify brain impairments in people charged with murder who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Which specific brain areas was Raine looking at?
Pre-frontal cortex
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Thalamus
Corpos Callosum
Angular Gyrus
What kind of design did Raine use?
Matched Pairs
What was the independent variable?
Murderer/non murderer
What was the dependent variable?
Activity in specific brain areas
How many people were in the experimental group?
39 men
2 women
How were the experimental group matched?
Sex
Age
Ethnicity
No medication
6 controls with schizophrenia
What did the participants do for 32 minutes?
Continuous Performance Task
What happened to the participants during the CPT?
They were injected with a radioactive tracer.
Why did Raine use a PET scan?
To detect the active areas of the brain
How many images did the PET scan do?
10 images through the brain at 10mm intervals.
What were the findings in the Cortical regions?
Less activity in murderers than controls:
Lateral/medial Pre-frontal areas
Left Angular Gyrus
Left/Right Superior Parietal areas.
What were the findings in the Subcortical regions?
Less activity in murderers than controls:
Corpus Callosum
Left Amygdala,
Left Medial Temporal Lobe
Hippocampus
More activity in murderers than controls:
Right Amygdala
Right Medial Temporal Lobe
Right Thalamus
What were two conclusions of the study?
The hypothesis was supported - murderers pleading NGRI had different brain activity from controls.
Dysfunctions of a single brain area cannot explain violent behaviour, and not in a simplistic cause and effect manner.
