Neural

• What are the two explanations ?

  1. Prefrontal cortex
  2. lymbic system
• What is the prefrontal cortex explanation ?

  PFC is responsible for regulating emotion and controlling moral behaviour and high order functions

  • low activitt in this area leads to impulsivity and loss of control - works with the lymbic system
  • Raine
• What did raine find ?

  Conducted many studies on the brain showing numerous brain scans show reduced activity in the pfc

  • found 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in pfc in criminals than control group
• What did fallon find ?

  70 mri scans

  • identified 5 brains which he felt were psychopaths he was right
  • in every brain there was damage and reduced activity to the orbitalfrontal cortex
• What is the limbic system ?


  a set of structures which combine higher mental functions and emotion into a single system

  • thalamus
  • amygdala
• Thalamus ?


  Connects the Cans to the cereal cortex by processing sensory and movement information
• Amygdala ?


  Distinguished and processes emotions especially dear which triggers the fight or flight response

  • links to aggression, some research shows destruxtion of the amygdala can reduce aggression
• Who supports the limb of system ?

  Raine et al -

  • 41 murderes(2 female ) were scanned using a pet scanner to highlight brain activity
  • results compared to a matched age and gender control group
  • found reduced activity in pFC and abnormality in the amydagla and thalamus
• Evaluation ?

  1. biologically reductionist
  2. research support
  3. can’t apply to non violent crimes
• Biologically reductionist ?


  overlooks other genes and structures including the environment we may miss info or interpret findings incorrectly