IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD!
Overview of Brain
anatomy & physiology
and how it relates to
crime
WARM-UP
Short Serial Killer test: Answer the following
question on your warm-up without talking to
anyone!
 The main character in the story is this girl. When she
was at the funeral of her own mother, she met this guy
who was also there, but she did not know who he was.
This guy happened to fit her bill of her dream guy, so she
fell in love with him at once; love at first sight etc... A few
days later, the girl killed her own sister. When the cops
asked her why she did that, she gave a very shocking
answer... Do you know what her motive for killing her
sister is?
SERIAL KILLER ANSWER

She wanted to see the guy again. She was hoping
he would come to her sister’s funeral if she killed
her sister.
CEREBRAL CORTEX-FRONTAL LOBE
Frontal Lobe: Most anterior, right under
the forehead.
 Functions:

How we know what we are doing within our
environment (Consciousness). How we
initiate activity in response to our
environment. Judgments we make about
what occurs in our daily activities. Controls
our emotional response. Controls our
expressive language. Assigns meaning to the
words we choose. Involves word associations.
 Memory for habits and motor activities.

CEREBRAL CORTEX-FRONTAL LOBE
PROBLEMS


Loss of simple movement of various
body parts (Paralysis). Inability to
plan a sequence of complex
movements needed to complete multistepped tasks, such as making coffee
(Sequencing). Loss of spontaneity in
interacting with others. Loss of
flexibility in thinking. Persistence of a
single thought (Perseveration).
Inability to focus on task
(Attending). Mood changes
(Emotionally Labile). Changes in
social behavior. Changes in
personality. Difficulty with problem
solving.
Inablility to express language
(Broca's Aphasia).
CEREBRAL CORTEX-PARIETAL LOBE
Parietal Lobe: near the back and top of
the head.Functions:
 Location for visual attention. Location
for touch perception. Goal directed
voluntary movements. Manipulation of
objects.
 Integration of different senses that
allows for understanding a single
concept.

CEREBRAL CORTEX-PARIETAL LOBE
PROBLEMS

Observed Problems:
Inability to attend to more than one object at a time.
Inability to name an object (Anomia). Inability to locate
the words for writing (Agraphia). Problems with reading
(Alexia). Difficulty with drawing objects. Difficulty in
distinguishing left from right. Difficulty with doing
mathematics (Dyscalculia). Lack of awareness of certain
body parts and/or surrounding space (Apraxia) that leads
to difficulties in self-care. Inability to focus visual
attention.
 Difficulties with eye and hand coordination.

CEREBRAL CORTEX-OCCIPITAL LOBE
Occipital Lobes: Most posterior,
at the back of the head.
 Functions:


Vision
CEREBRAL CORTEX-OCCIPITAL LOBE
PROBLEMS

Observed Problems:


Defects in vision (Visual Field
Cuts). Difficulty with locating
objects in environment.
Difficulty with identifying colors
(Color Agnosia). Production of
hallucinations Visual illusions inaccurately seeing objects.
Word blindness - inability to
recognize words. Difficulty in
recognizing drawn objects.
Inability to recognize the
movement of an object
(Movement Agnosia).
Difficulties with reading and
writing.
CEREBRAL CORTEX-TEMPORAL LOBE
Temporal Lobes: Side of head
above ears.
 Functions:

Hearing ability Memory aquisition
Some visual perceptions
 Catagorization of objects.

CEREBRAL CORTEX-TEMPORAL LOBE PROBLEMS

Observed Problems:
Difficulty in recognizing faces (Prosopagnosia). Difficulty in
understanding spoken words (Wernicke's Aphasia). Disturbance with
selective attention to what we see and hear. Difficulty with identification
of, and verbalization about objects. Short-term memory loss. Interference
with long-term memory Increased or decreased interest in sexual
behavior. Inability to catagorize objects (Catagorization). Right lobe
damage can cause persistant talking.
 Increased aggressive behavior.

FORENSIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
THEY WANT TO PROVE

WHAT
A significant and compelling body of scientific
literature is accumulating suggesting that the
concept of a "criminal brain" is viable.
FORENSIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
PROVE IT

HOW TO
Mounting research indicates that deficiencies in
the frontal or pre-frontal regions of the brain
often correlate with various forms of violence and
impulsivity that can lead to criminal acts.
Deficiencies in other brain areas play a role in
contributing to behaviors that are categorized as
"criminal." Memory problems, perceptual
disorders, and emotional difficulties all may
contribute to behaviors that cannot be adequately
controlled and that lead to socially unacceptable
behaviors.
FORENSIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
PROBLEMS

These studies do not prove causal relationships.
Certainly, all people with frontal lobe damage are
not violent or criminal. And, it is likely that some
people with normal frontal lobes do, indeed,
exhibit criminal behavior. The thrust of
correlational research is that it suggests
relationships and tendencies. The research may
not tell the whole picture, but it reasonably tells
a significant part of it.
Phineas P. Gage (1823–1860) was an American railroad
construction foreman
 large iron rod was driven completely through his head,
destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe,
 "no longer Gage.“
 first case to suggest that damage to specific parts of the
brain might affect personality

FORENSIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Researchers at the University of Southern
California have been studying the size of the prefrontal lobes and the tendency for that variable to
correlate with criminal behavior. Their findings
indicate that men who are most prone to rage
and violence have significant deficiencies in the
pre-frontal lobes, the brain region that enables
most people to learn moral sensibilities and
exercise self-restraint
FORENSIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

The aim of forensic neuropsychology is to contribute
objective and scientifically-founded clinical evidence in a
judicial proceeding where brain and behavior issues exist.
While each side of a case, the prosecution and defense, or
the plaintiff and defense, may present their own—and
differing—neuropsychological evidence, in an ideal situation
there should be sufficiently incontrovertible scientific
foundation of evidence. Unfortunately, even with similar
foundation, each side may reach different conclusions. There
is, as yet, no way to remove the bias of personal beliefs, the
emotions of personal experience, and the incompleteness of
scientific methodology and findings.
THE BRAIN-BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST CONTRIBUTES
STATE-OF-THE-ART-AND-SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE IN
ASSISTING IN ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

Is (or, was, at the time of the crime, in the case of a criminal
proceeding) the brain functioning within culturally accepted standards
of normal?
If so, what constraints and variations in brain functions might coalesce
with non-neurological factors to bear on psychological processes (such as
anger and impulse control, personality disorders, memory reliability,
suggestibility, and decision-making) leading to criminal or abnormal
behavior?
 If not, what are the dysfunctional systems of the brain that might account
for abnormal behavior affecting an individual's adjustment in society?





What neuropathology can account for and cause dysfunctional systems?
What are the practical effects of the dysfunction on emotional,
vocational, family, and personal behavior?
What is the status of the dysfunction and neuropathology (that is, what
is the permanence or potential for recovery)?
What circumstances regarding brain functioning might help account for
criminal behavior?