Week Eight - Brain Structures

Question 1

Why are we examining brain structure?

Answer 1

The reason for looking in some detail at the brain is that a significant proportion of the most extreme, life-course-persistent offenders show clear signs of significant brain damage in exactly the parts of the brain where we would predict would lead to immoral, impulsive, violent, anti-social and unpredictable behaviour

Question 2

The Prefrontal Cortex

Explanation…

Answer 2

• In 1848 Phineas Gage, a respected, diligent railway worker, survived a one-metre long, 6-kilogram, iron rod being blasted through the frontal lobe of his brain. The destruction was mostly on the left, mainly impacting the prefrontal area, and showed us that traumatic damage to the prefrontal cortex can change a person’s character and behaviour dramatically for the worse

Question 3

The Two Sides of the Brain

Explanation..

Answer 3

There is evidence that low than normal right-hemisphere functioning might be important in the lower heart rate clearly linked to higher risk of criminal behaviour

Damage to the right side of the brain in adulthood has been shown to reduce the patient’s response to negative emotional stimuli. This supports the idea that the fearlessness and impaired ability to learn from negative consequence known to be risk factors for criminal behaviour might be due to right hemisphere under activity

Dysfunction of the left hemisphere has been convincingly associated with violence and criminal behaviour in psychopaths, sex offenders, people with conduct disorder, children showing anti-social behaviour, male behaviour offenders and others, using several methods (Raine, 1993)