Neural

• The neural explanation for offending suggests that offending behaviour is due to the brain and nervous system, and the action of neural transmitters. There are two topics within neural explanations:

  • prefrontal cortex
  • mirror neurons
• Neural Explanations

  Evidence suggests that there may be neural differences in offenders and non-offenders. A lot of this evidence has investigated those diagnosed with APD, which is associated with reduced emotional responses and lack of empathy, and is a condition that characterises a lot of convicted criminals
• Neural Explanations: Pre-Frontal Cortex

  Raine has conducted several studies investigating the brain of those with APD. He found that there are several dozen brain imaging studies demonstrating that those with APs have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour. Raine et al (2000) found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to the control group.
• Neural Explanations: Mirror Neurons

  Recent research suggests that offenders with APD can experience empathy but more sporadically. Keyser's et al (2011) found that only when criminals were asked to empathise with a person on film experiencing pain, did their empathy reactions, which are controlled by mirror neurons, activate. This suggests that those with APD are not totally without empathy, but may have a neural switch that can be turned on and off, unlike the normal brain with the empathy switch permanently turned on.
• Neural Explanations: Biochemistry

  There are three main biochemicals that are implicated in offending:

  • noradrenaline
  • serotonin
  • dopamine
• Neural Explanations: Noradrenaline

  Noradrenaline is a neurotransmitter partially responsible for fight of flight response and helps respond in a threatening situation. Research suggests that high levels are linked to violence and aggression so some crimes can be explained by a chemical imbalance.
• Neural Explanations: Serotonin

  A neurotransmitter that regulates mood and impulse control, meaning that low levels could be implicated in criminal behaviour due to increased impulsivity.
• Neural Explanations: Dopamine

  Dopamine has been linked to addiction and therefore substance abuse, which makes crime more likely. Dopaminergic activity in the limbic system means that pleasure is experienced and the greater the activity, the greater the feeling of pleasure which makes addiction more likely.
• Neural Explanations: Testosterone (AO1/AO3)

  Higley (2006) found that high levels of testosterone correlate with aggression, and low levels of serotonin correlated with impulsive behaviour and extreme aggression. He studied male non-human primates, apes, and results suggest how biochemical levels may underpin behaviour.