News Release

Brain lesions and criminal behavior

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Lesions

image: These are lesions from 17 patients with acquired criminal behavior, manually traced onto a common brain atlas (MNI). view more 

Credit: PNAS

Researchers systematically mapped brain lesions in 17 patients from the literature whose lesions were temporally associated with criminal behavior, and report that the lesions were located in spatially diverse brain regions, but that all the lesions mapped to a common functional brain network that included regions involved in aspects of moral decision-making, suggesting why certain brain lesions might predispose people toward criminal behavior whereas others might not.

Article #17-06587: "Lesion network localization of criminal behavior," by R. Ryan Darby, Andreas Horn, Fiery Cushman, and Michael D. Fox.

MEDIA CONTACT: R. Ryan Darby, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; tel: 615-945-9687; e-mail: <darby.ryan@gmail.com>

###


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.