Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Methodology of Forensic Neuroscience

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Neuroscience and Law

Abstract

Insanity is a distinctive element of criminal law because it brings together two very different disciplines, psychiatry and psychology on the one hand and the law on the other. It might strongly benefit from the introduction of structural neuroimaging, that, however, had so far a limited translational impact. Brain imaging purports to demonstrate functional status and thereby it can be useful to provide a scientific explanation for the clinical symptoms strenghtening the medico-legal reasoning. Despite international cases using brain imaging to support diminished responsibility, in Italy there are still a lot of controversies.

Is the neuroscientific logic deterministic? How may the classic psychiatric/neurologic examination and neuroscientific evidence work side by side? Are the symptoms not legally relevant really not relevant? Could the study of the brain inform the clinical diagnosis? Could the study of the brain inform the expert opinion on responsibility and insanity?

In this chapter, we describe the cognitive and behavioral profile of a defendant charged with murder, as well as his brain imaging correlates. Through the analysis of this real forensic case, we address the above questions and conclude that neuroscience may strengthen the results of psychiatric evaluations, thus reducing uncertainty in the forensic settings. We claim that besides the clinical diagnosis, the study of the brain allows a better understanding of the individual acts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Scarpazza et al. (2018a).

  2. 2.

    See Scarpazza and De Simone (2016).

  3. 3.

    See Orrù et al. (2012).

  4. 4.

    Scarpazza et al. (2016). See Scarpazza et al. (2013). See also Scarpazza et al. (2015).

  5. 5.

    Kim et al. (2015).

  6. 6.

    Reeves et al. (2003).

  7. 7.

    See Scarpazza et al. (2018a).

  8. 8.

    Reeves et al. (2003).

  9. 9.

    Appelbaum (2015).

  10. 10.

    Fornari and Galliani (2003).

  11. 11.

    Scarpazza et al. (2016).

  12. 12.

    See Scarpazza et al. (2018a). See also Rigoni et al. (2010).

  13. 13.

    Appelbaum (2015). See Baum (2013). See also Scurich and Appelbaum (2017). See also Turone (2011).

  14. 14.

    Farisco and Petrini (2012). See also Forzano et al. (2010).

  15. 15.

    Scarpazza et al. (2018b).

  16. 16.

    Farisco and Petrini (2012). See also Forzano et al. (2010). See also Sartori et al. (2016).

  17. 17.

    Gilbert and Focquaert (2015). See also Mohnke (2014). See also Scarpazza et al. (2018c).

  18. 18.

    Camperio Ciani et al. (2019).

  19. 19.

    Bogousslavsky and Boller (2005).

  20. 20.

    Bogousslavsky and Boller (2005).

  21. 21.

    Fazel et al. (2018).

  22. 22.

    Ikram et al. (2016).

  23. 23.

    MacNalty (1952).

  24. 24.

    Chalmers and Chaloner (2009).

  25. 25.

    Ikram et al. (2016).

  26. 26.

    Reznek (2005). See also Smith and Burger (1997). See also van Impelen (2014).

  27. 27.

    Vernooij et al. (2007).

  28. 28.

    Bahk et al. (2002). See also da Silva et al. (2007). See also Mironov et al. (2014).

  29. 29.

    Baquero et al. (2014). See also Vakis et al. (2006).

  30. 30.

    Gundersen et al. (2007). See also Gjerde et al. (2013).

  31. 31.

    Wester (2008).

  32. 32.

    Debnath et al. (2016).

  33. 33.

    Scarpazza et al. (2018b).

  34. 34.

    Ferentinos et al. (2007). See also: Langarica and Peralta (2005); Pandurangi et al. (2014); Papazisis et al. (2007); Turan et al. (2010).

  35. 35.

    Duncan et al. (2000). See also Thompson et al. (2001).

  36. 36.

    Duncan et al. (2000). See also Thompson et al. (2001).

  37. 37.

    Franzen and Iverson (2011).

  38. 38.

    Hays et al. (2000).

  39. 39.

    Vernooij et al. (2007).

References

  • Appelbaum PS (2015) Law & psychiatry: through a glass darkly: functional neuroimaging evidence enters the courtroom. Psychiatr Serv 1:21–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahk WM, Pae CU, Chae JH, Jun TY, Kim KS (2002) A case of brief psychosis associated with an arachnoid cyst. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 56(2):203–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baquero GA, Molero P, Pla J, Ortuno F (2014) A schizophrenia-like psychotic disorder secondary to an arachnoid cyst remitted with neurosurgical treatment of the cyst. Open Neuroimag J 8:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum ML (2013) The monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genetic predisposition to impulsive violence: is it relevant to criminal trials? Neuroethics 6:287–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogousslavsky J, Boller F (2005) Neurological disorders in famous artists. Frontiers of neurology and neuroscience. Karger, Basel

    Google Scholar 

  • Camperio Ciani AS, Scarpazza C, Covelli V, Battaglia U (2019) Profiling acquired pedophilic behavior: retrospective analysis of 66 Italian forensic cases of pedophilia. Int J Law Psychiatry 67:101508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers CR, Chaloner EJ (2009) 500 years later: Henry VIII, leg ulcers and the course of history. J R Soc Med 102(12):514–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • da Silva JA, Alves A, Talina M, Carreiro S, Guimaraes J, Xavier M (2007) Arachnoid cyst in a patient with psychosis: case report. Ann Gen Psychiatry 6:16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Debnath J, Ravikumar R, Sharma V, Senger KP, Maurya V, Singh G, Sharma P, Khera A, Singh A (2016) ‘Empty sella’ on routine MRI studies: an incidental finding or otherwise? Med J Armed Forces India 72(1):33–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan J, Seitz RJ, Kolodny J, Bor D, Herzog H, Ahmed A, Newell FN, Emslie H (2000) A neural basis for general intelligence. Science 289(5478):457–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farisco M, Petrini C (2012) The impact of neuroscience and genetics on the law: a recent Italian case. Neuroethics 5:317–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazel S, Smith EN, Chang Z, Geddes JR (2018) Risk factors for interpersonal violence: an umbrella review of meta-analyses. Br J Psychiatry 213(4):609–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferentinos PP, Kontaxakis VP, Havaki-Kontaxaki BJ, Paplos KG, Pappa DA, Soldatos CR (2007) Refractory psychosis and prominent cognitive deficits in a patient with mega-cisterna magna. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 31(2):561–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornari U, Galliani I (2003) Il caso giudiziario di Gianfranco Stevanin. Torino Centro Scientifico Editore

    Google Scholar 

  • Forzano F, Borry P, Cambon-Thomsen A, Hodgson SV, Tibben A, de Vries P, van El C, Cornel M (2010) Italian appeal court: a genetic predisposition to commit murder? Eur J Hum Genet 18(5):519–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franzen MD, Iverson GL (2011) Detecting negative responses bias and diagnosis malingering: the dissimulation exam 26:81–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert F, Focquaert F (2015) Rethinking responsibility in offenders with acquired paedophilia: punishment or treatment? Int J Law Psychiatry 38:51–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gjerde PB, Schmid M, Hammar A, Wester K (2013) Intracranial arachnoid cysts: impairment of higher cognitive functions and postoperative improvement. J Neurodev Disord 5(1):21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gundersen H, Helland CA, Raeder MB, Hugdahl K, Wester K (2007) Visual attention in patients with intracranial arachnoid cysts. J Neurol 254(1):60–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays JR, Emmons J, Stallings G (2000) Dementia and mental retardation markers on the Rey 15-item visual memory test. Psychol Rep 86(1):179–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes V (2010) Science in court: head case. Nature 464(7287):340–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted DS, Myers WC, Lui Y (2008) The limited role of neuroimaging in determining criminal liability: an overview and case report. Forensic Sci Int 179(1):e9–e15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ikram MQ, Sajjad FH, Salardini A (2016) The head that wears the crown: Henry VIII and traumatic brain injury. J Clin Neurosci 28:16–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Boytos A, Seong Y, Park K (2015) The influence of biomedical information and childhood history on sentencing. Behav Sci Law 33(6):815–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langarica M, Peralta V (2005) Psychosis associated to megacisterna magna. An Sist Sanit Navar 28(1):119–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacNalty AS (1952) Henry VIII: a difficult patient. Christopher Johnson Publishers, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mironov A, John S, Auerbach J, Jamaleddine G (2014) Acute onset of psychosis in a patient with a left temporal lobe arachnoid cyst. Case Rep Med. 204025

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohnke S, Muller S, Amelung T, Kruger TH, Ponseti J, Schiffer B, Walter M, Beier KM, Walter H (2014) Brain alterations in paedophilia: a critical review. Prog Neurobiol 122:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orrù G, Pettersson-Yeo W, Marquand AF, Sartori G, Mechelli A (2012) Using support vector machine to identify imaging biomarkers of neurological and psychiatric disease: a critical review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 36(4):1140–1152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandurangi S, Pandurangi A, Matkar A, Shetty N, Patil P (2014) Psychiatric manifestations associated with mega cisterna magna. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 26(2):169–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papazisis G, Mastrogianni A, Karastergiou A (2007) Early-onset schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder in a young man with Dandy-Walker variant. Schizophr Res 93(1–3):403–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeves D, Mills MJ, Billick SB, Brodie JD (2003) Limitations of brain imaging in forensic psychiatry. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 31(1):89–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Reznek L (2005) The Rey 15-item memory test for malingering: a meta-analysis. Brain Inj 19(7):539–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigoni D, Pellegrini S, Mariotti V, Cozza A, Mechelli A, Ferrara SD, Pietrini P, Sartori G (2010) How neuroscience and behavioral genetics improve psychiatric assessment: report on a violent murder case. Front Behav Neurosci 4:160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas-Burke J (1993) PET scans advance as tool in insanity defense. J Nucl Med 34(1):13N–16N, 25N–26N

    Google Scholar 

  • Sartori G, Scarpazza C, Codognotto S, Pietrini P (2016) An unusual case of acquired pedophilic behavior following compression of orbitofrontal cortex and hypothalamus by a Clivus Chordoma. J Neurol 263(7):1454–1455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, De Simone MS (2016) Voxel-based morphometry: current perspectives. Neurosci Neuroecon 5:19–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Sartori G, De Simone MS, Mechelli A (2013) When the single matters more than the group: very high false positive rates in single case voxel based morphometry. Neuroimage 70:175–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Tognin S, Frisciata S, Sartori G, Mechelli A (2015) False positive rates in voxel-based morphometry studies of the human brain: should we be worried? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 52:49–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Nichols TE, Seramondi D, Maumet C, Sartori G, Mechelli A (2016) When the single matters more than the Group (II): addressing the problem of high false positive rates in single case voxel based morphometry using non-parametric statistics. Front Neurosci 10:6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Ferracuti S, Miolla A, Sartori G (2018a) The charm of structural neuroimaging in insanity evaluations: guidelines to avoid misinterpretation of the findings. Transl Psychiatry 8(1):227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Pellegrini S, Pietrini P, Sartori G (2018b) The role of neuroscience in the evaluation of mental insanity: on the controversies in Italy. Neuroethics 11:83–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpazza C, Pennati A, Sartori G (2018c) Mental insanity assessment of pedophilia: the importance of the trans-disciplinary approach. Reflections on two cases. Front Neurosci 12:335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scurich N, Appelbaum PS (2017) Behavioral genetics in criminal court. Nat Hum Behav 1:772–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith GP, Burger GK (1997) Detection of malingering: validation of the structured inventory of malingered symptomatology (SIMS). J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 25(2):183–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson PM, Cannon TD, Narr KL, van Erp T, Poutanen VP, Huttunen M, Lonnqvist J, Standertskjold-Nordenstam CG, Kaprio J, Khaledy M et al (2001) Genetic influences on brain structure. Nat Neurosci 4(12):1253–1258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turan T, Besirli A, Asdemir A, Ozsoy S, Esel E (2010) Manic episode associated with mega cisterna magna. Psychiatry Investig 7(4):305–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turone F (2011) Medical tests help reduce sentence of woman accused of murder. Br Med J 343:d5761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vakis AF, Koutentakis DI, Karabetsos DA, Kalostos GN (2006) Psychosis-like syndrome associated with intermittent intracranial hypertension caused by a large arachnoid cyst of the left temporal lobe. Br J Neurosurg 20(3):156–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Impelen A, Merckelbach H, Jelicic M, Merten T (2014) The structured inventory of malingered symptomatology (SIMS): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Neuropsychol 28(8):1336–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vernooij MW, Ikram MA, Tanghe HL, Vincent AJ, Hofman A, Krestin GP, Niessen WJ, Breteler MM, van der Lugt A (2007) Incidental findings on brain MRI in the general population. N Engl J Med 357(18):1821–1828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wester K (2008) Intracranial arachnoid cysts–do they impair mental functions? J Neurol 255(8):1113–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Padua, Department of General Psychology, Padua, Italy

    Giuseppe Sartori & Cristina Scarpazza

  2. University of Pisa, Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular and Critical Area Pathology, Pisa, Italy

    Graziella Orrù

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Sartori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Graziella Orrù
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristina Scarpazza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristina Scarpazza .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Law, Politics and International Studies, University Center for Bioethics, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Antonio D’Aloia  & Maria Chiara Errigo  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sartori, G., Orrù, G., Scarpazza, C. (2020). The Methodology of Forensic Neuroscience. In: D’Aloia, A., Errigo, M.C. (eds) Neuroscience and Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38840-9_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38840-9_22

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38839-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38840-9

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation