research

• Claustrum

  • Thin sheet of neurons where consciousness is proposed to lay (Crick and Roch 1998)
  • When an electrode was placed near the claustrum of a 54-year-old with severe epileptic seizures, the person stared blankly and did not respond to visual or auditory commands, and did not recollect the event (Koubeissi et al 2014)
• Abnormal levels of neurotransmitters


  • Drugs can be used to treat criminals
• Cherek et al 2002 investigation


  1. Investigated levels of aggressiveness and impulsivity in males who have a history of criminal behaviour

  2. Half was given a placebo for 21 days

  3. The group with the SSRI antidepressant had decreased in impulsive responses and aggression

  4. Make society safer
• Farah 2004 stated that use of neurological interventions shows that there is a lack of individuals freedom which is what prisoners have not been denied previously
• Prisoners may be offered a sentence or medication which may coerce a prisoner into taking medication - very little choice
• Kadosh 2012 TDSC


  1. Involves a electric current across specific regions in the brain

  2. Improves mathematical, problem-solving, memory, language capabilities
• Kadosh et al warned that the clinic practitioners are not trained and there are no licensing rules for practitioners - administering ineffective treatments or brain damage
• Cheap - not available to everyone - unfair advantage - especially in third world countries