TBI

Question 1

Epilepsy

Answer 1

No clear association with violence

Question 2

What is TBI?

Answer 2

Alteration in brain physiology/anatomy caused by external force

Question 3

Frontal lobe injury - Results

Answer 3

Frontal lobe injury can lead to:

1. Impulsivity
2. Inability to modify behaviour
3. Deficits in attention, planning and memory
4. Personality changes
5. Lack of awareness of deficits from injury (= anosagnosia)
6. Anxiety and/or depression
7. No remorse after aggressive periods
8. Higher frequency of suicide

Question 4

Frontal lobe injury - Why?

Answer 4

1. DLPFC deals with decision-making (including moral decision-making) and memory
2. OFC deals with inhibition of behaviour (= impulsiveness if lesions)
3. VmPFC deals with moral intuition (= lack of empathy and irresponsibility if lesions)
4. Lateral orbitofrontal subcortical circuit (LOSC) deals with attitude and social intelligence and suppressing agression

Question 5

Frontotemporal dementia

Answer 5

1. Alzheimer’s dementia = Still some violations but minor (mainly traffic violations) compared to FTD
2. Patients show no remorse but still know that what they did was wrong
3. Personality change
4. Impaired moral rationality from impaired moral cognition

Question 6

Incarceration environment

Answer 6

1. Impoverished environment:
   - No physical activity
   - Decreased autonomy
   - Social isolation
   - Lack of cognitive challenges
   - Chronis stress
   - Sleep disturbance
2. Lower PFC activity = Lower performance in executive functioning
3. 2 kinds of functions in executive functioning:
   - Top-down = Self-control, planning, working memory, set-shifting, inhibition…
   - Bottom-up = Favouring an appropriate response
4. Only top-down functions are impaired, bottom-up seems unaffected

Question 7

The violent act

Answer 7

You can check whether the act is related to TBI because as injury severity increases, instrumentality and purposefulness decrease = Check the kind of crime that was committed