Neural

• Key aspects of the neural explanation to offending

  • prefrontal cortex
  • Limbic system
  • Neurotransmitters
• What did Raine find about the prefrontal cortex and anti-social personality disorder (APD)

  Anti-social personalities have reduced activity in the pre-frontal cortex (which regulates emotional and moral behaviour)
• What is low activity in the pre-frontal cortex associated with?

  impulsiveness and loss of control
• What did Raine‘s brain imaging of the prefrontal cortex show ?

  71 brain imaging studies

  = murderers, psychopaths & violent individuals have reduced functioning in the pre-frontal cortex
• What is the Limbic system ?

  • responsible for processing and regulating emotions, memories and behaviours that are critical for survival
  • helps the brain respond to emotional stimuli
  • made up of subcortical structures, including the thalamus and amygdala- linked to motivation and emotion
• Study supporting the limbic system and offending

  Raine et al. (1997)

  • studied murderers who were found not guilty by reason of insanity
  • Compared with matched controls, they found abnormal asymmetries in the limbic system of the murderers
• how does the neurotransmitter serotonin link to offending

  low levels of serotonin may predispose individuals to impulsive aggression and criminal behaviour, as this normally inhibits the prefrontal cortex
• How does noradrenaline link to offending

  Wright et al. (2015)

  • Both very high and very low levels have been linked with aggression, violence and criminality
  • High levels are associated with the activation of the SNS and the fight or flight response, so are linked to aggression
  • Low levels reduces the ability to react to perceived threats
• Strength of neural explanations

  Neural Evidence

  • Damage to the frontal lobe correlates with impulsivity, poor planning and anti-social behaviour, supporting brain damage as a factor in offending
• Limitation of genetic and neural explanations

  Biological determinism

  raising questions about responsibility for crimes- challenges justice principles that rely on free well unless exceptions like mental illness apply