Task 1 neurocriminology
NEUROLOGICAL BASIS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
Violent, aggressive, criminal, antisocial behaviors result from a combination of environmental and
neurological factors, genes and psychosocial factors
But the combination of these factors don’t need to result in antisocial/aggressive behavior
Genes
- Antisocial/aggressive behavior is 40-60% genetic
o Contribution of one single gene to antisocial behavior is very small more likely
that combination of multiple genes would increase risk of aggressive behavior
- No specific genes have been identifies yet
- Tested in adoption studies
- Epigenetics show that environment can influence how genes are expressed
- Mostly a combination of genes x environment
Hormones
Cortisol and testosterone have been most studied in relation with antisocial behavior disruption
in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)
- Psychological stress during different stages of development can make permanent changes in
HPA axis functioning and predispose a person to antisocial behavior
- Low cortisol levels in childhood are predictors of aggressive behavior 5 years later
- Increased testosterone levels are associated with increased aggressive behavior in adults
Neurotransmitters
- Low serotonin levels seen in people with impulsive aggressive behavior
- Decreased MOAO levels results in aggressive behavior
o But this would result in higher serotonin levels contradicts
so both high and low levels of serotonin are associated with aggression needs more research
Psychophysiology
- Low resting heart rate is strong predictor for future antisocial behavior
o Indicates a lack of anxiety (our heart rate goes up when we are anxious)
- Under arousal (e.g. low EEG activity, reduced skin conductance (e.g. sweat)) at age 15
predicts crime at age 24
o Fearlessness hypothesis= positive feedback loop; dulled autonomous functioning
can lead to increased antisocial/criminal behavior (man with high aggression)
which in turn can amplify disturbed physiological activity (skin conductance fear
conditioning is also worse) so feel no fear and antisocial behavior gets worse
o Sensation seeking hypothesis = suggests that dulled psychophysiology is an
uncomfortable state of mind to achieve homeostasis, individuals engage in
antisocial behavior to increase arousal levels
o Somatic marker hypothesis= suggests that 'somatic markers' (e.g. sweaty hands),
reflect emotional state (e.g. fear) that can inform decision-making processes
Antisocial people might not cognitively connect these physiological
responses with emotional states. somatic aphasia
- Poor autonomic fear conditioning is the lack of ability to learn associations between neutral
cues and aversive stimuli
o Abnormalities of amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate
, o Has also to do with learning to follow the rules
High on proactive aggression , blunted autonomous functioning more likely to show
premeditated crimes
High on reactive aggression (aggression on provocation) more often show hyperactive
autonomous functioning impulsive crimes
Successful psychopaths (not arrested) exhibit autonomous functioning similar to non-
psychopaths
Unsuccessful psychopaths (arrested) show reduced heart rate during stress
Prenatal (before) and perinatal (around birth) influences
Early health risks are associated with increased risk of developing antisocial aggressive behavior at a
later age
- Birth complications
- Poor fetal development
- Cavum septum pellucidum
- Alcohol and nicotine consumption
- Lead
- High dentin lead
- High maternal manganese levels during pregnancy
- Poor nutrition
- Malnutrition in children
Brain
1. Overall: there is an impaired functioning of the frontal lobe (decision-making, attention, emotion
regulation, impulse control, moral reasoning) in antisocial and violent behavior:
- Orbitofrontal cortex= emotion processing, reward and punishment learning, decision-
making
o Damage: leads to poor decision making, psychopathic like behavior
o E.g. tumor in this area led to pedophilic behavior, after removing the tumor, the
behavior vanished (but they think the fantasies where already there, and due to the
tumor he couldn’t inhibit his impulses anymore)
- Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)= error processing, conflict monitoring, learning to avoid
o Damage: decreased inhibition, increased aggression, impaired emotional processing
- Dorsolateral PFC= self-regulatory processes (attention, cognitive flexibility)
o Damage: may be linked to antisocial features of impulsivity and poor control over
behavior
o E.g. planning abilities decrease, so improving your life after release goes not so well
Successful psychopaths and white-collar criminals do not exhibit these PFC limitations
- No gray matter reductions
2. Amygdala (recognizing facial and auditory expressions of emotions) shows altered brain activity in
antisocial people
- poor amygdala development impaired ability to recognize fear or threat signals
- Decreased volume in people with psychopathic traits (blunt emotions and cold calculated
aggression)
- Damage: decreased sense of danger, less fear, limitations in recognizing fearful facial
expressions (involved in empathy)
3.Striatum (reward/punishment and emotional processing)
- Psychopaths do not feel punished, but do feel greater feelings of reward (more research
needed)
, Neuromoral hypothesis of antisocial behavior= states that the different brain regions affected in
offenders overlap significantly with brain regions involved in moral decision-making
- Impairment in moral structures gives a foundation for antisocial, violent and psychopathic
behavior
- They “know” the difference between right/wrong, but do they “feel” it too?
- Disruption of moral circuit (incl. amygdala) disrupts the sense of what is right/wrong
Dynamic systems= certain processes influence others though feedback loops
- E.g.: PFC monitors and regulates amygdala
o Disruption of this top-down connectivity increases antisocial/criminal behavior
- E.g.: Brain output regulates autonomic functions by influencing HPA axis
o Autonomic functions may also provide input to the brain important for influencing
behavioral judgements and maintaining coordinated regulation of bodily functions
ASSESSMENT OF NEUROBIOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES
Prone to:
- Pathology bias= the tendency of clinicians to see abnormalities because it is suggested by
the context
- Allegiance bias= the assessments are biased in a certain direction depending on the party
that hired the expert
- Malingering= the falsification of test results by the defendant
STUDIES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND BIOLOGICAL
FUNCTIONING
- Cross-sectional and correlational studies= Usually do not provide information about specific
genetic or environmental factors that drive this relationship
- Longitudinal study= looking at whether specific biological factors (e.g. hormone levels,
neurotransmitter levels, physiological indices, brain impairment) can predict future violations
- Adoption studies= can separate genetic factors from environmental factors
INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION
- Psychopharmacological medication
o Effective in reducing aggressive behavior in children and adolescence
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
o helps adults with impulsive aggression by increasing glucose metabolism in
orbitofrontal cortex
- Anti-androgen medication
o Helps sex offenders by reducing sex drive
o Or chemic castration (reversible)
- Omega-3 fatty acids
o Reduce aggressive behavior in children and adults
- Neurobiological research
o Applying it to population level violence early in life may help prevent violence in
adulthood
E.g. give low-income mothers help during pregnancy
- Benign brain manipulation
o Enhancing neural excitability of right lateral prefrontal cortex increases adherence to
social norms enforced by punishment
- Mindfulness training
o Improves prefrontal and amygdala functioning reduced aggression
NEUROLOGICAL BASIS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
Violent, aggressive, criminal, antisocial behaviors result from a combination of environmental and
neurological factors, genes and psychosocial factors
But the combination of these factors don’t need to result in antisocial/aggressive behavior
Genes
- Antisocial/aggressive behavior is 40-60% genetic
o Contribution of one single gene to antisocial behavior is very small more likely
that combination of multiple genes would increase risk of aggressive behavior
- No specific genes have been identifies yet
- Tested in adoption studies
- Epigenetics show that environment can influence how genes are expressed
- Mostly a combination of genes x environment
Hormones
Cortisol and testosterone have been most studied in relation with antisocial behavior disruption
in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)
- Psychological stress during different stages of development can make permanent changes in
HPA axis functioning and predispose a person to antisocial behavior
- Low cortisol levels in childhood are predictors of aggressive behavior 5 years later
- Increased testosterone levels are associated with increased aggressive behavior in adults
Neurotransmitters
- Low serotonin levels seen in people with impulsive aggressive behavior
- Decreased MOAO levels results in aggressive behavior
o But this would result in higher serotonin levels contradicts
so both high and low levels of serotonin are associated with aggression needs more research
Psychophysiology
- Low resting heart rate is strong predictor for future antisocial behavior
o Indicates a lack of anxiety (our heart rate goes up when we are anxious)
- Under arousal (e.g. low EEG activity, reduced skin conductance (e.g. sweat)) at age 15
predicts crime at age 24
o Fearlessness hypothesis= positive feedback loop; dulled autonomous functioning
can lead to increased antisocial/criminal behavior (man with high aggression)
which in turn can amplify disturbed physiological activity (skin conductance fear
conditioning is also worse) so feel no fear and antisocial behavior gets worse
o Sensation seeking hypothesis = suggests that dulled psychophysiology is an
uncomfortable state of mind to achieve homeostasis, individuals engage in
antisocial behavior to increase arousal levels
o Somatic marker hypothesis= suggests that 'somatic markers' (e.g. sweaty hands),
reflect emotional state (e.g. fear) that can inform decision-making processes
Antisocial people might not cognitively connect these physiological
responses with emotional states. somatic aphasia
- Poor autonomic fear conditioning is the lack of ability to learn associations between neutral
cues and aversive stimuli
o Abnormalities of amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate
, o Has also to do with learning to follow the rules
High on proactive aggression , blunted autonomous functioning more likely to show
premeditated crimes
High on reactive aggression (aggression on provocation) more often show hyperactive
autonomous functioning impulsive crimes
Successful psychopaths (not arrested) exhibit autonomous functioning similar to non-
psychopaths
Unsuccessful psychopaths (arrested) show reduced heart rate during stress
Prenatal (before) and perinatal (around birth) influences
Early health risks are associated with increased risk of developing antisocial aggressive behavior at a
later age
- Birth complications
- Poor fetal development
- Cavum septum pellucidum
- Alcohol and nicotine consumption
- Lead
- High dentin lead
- High maternal manganese levels during pregnancy
- Poor nutrition
- Malnutrition in children
Brain
1. Overall: there is an impaired functioning of the frontal lobe (decision-making, attention, emotion
regulation, impulse control, moral reasoning) in antisocial and violent behavior:
- Orbitofrontal cortex= emotion processing, reward and punishment learning, decision-
making
o Damage: leads to poor decision making, psychopathic like behavior
o E.g. tumor in this area led to pedophilic behavior, after removing the tumor, the
behavior vanished (but they think the fantasies where already there, and due to the
tumor he couldn’t inhibit his impulses anymore)
- Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)= error processing, conflict monitoring, learning to avoid
o Damage: decreased inhibition, increased aggression, impaired emotional processing
- Dorsolateral PFC= self-regulatory processes (attention, cognitive flexibility)
o Damage: may be linked to antisocial features of impulsivity and poor control over
behavior
o E.g. planning abilities decrease, so improving your life after release goes not so well
Successful psychopaths and white-collar criminals do not exhibit these PFC limitations
- No gray matter reductions
2. Amygdala (recognizing facial and auditory expressions of emotions) shows altered brain activity in
antisocial people
- poor amygdala development impaired ability to recognize fear or threat signals
- Decreased volume in people with psychopathic traits (blunt emotions and cold calculated
aggression)
- Damage: decreased sense of danger, less fear, limitations in recognizing fearful facial
expressions (involved in empathy)
3.Striatum (reward/punishment and emotional processing)
- Psychopaths do not feel punished, but do feel greater feelings of reward (more research
needed)
, Neuromoral hypothesis of antisocial behavior= states that the different brain regions affected in
offenders overlap significantly with brain regions involved in moral decision-making
- Impairment in moral structures gives a foundation for antisocial, violent and psychopathic
behavior
- They “know” the difference between right/wrong, but do they “feel” it too?
- Disruption of moral circuit (incl. amygdala) disrupts the sense of what is right/wrong
Dynamic systems= certain processes influence others though feedback loops
- E.g.: PFC monitors and regulates amygdala
o Disruption of this top-down connectivity increases antisocial/criminal behavior
- E.g.: Brain output regulates autonomic functions by influencing HPA axis
o Autonomic functions may also provide input to the brain important for influencing
behavioral judgements and maintaining coordinated regulation of bodily functions
ASSESSMENT OF NEUROBIOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES
Prone to:
- Pathology bias= the tendency of clinicians to see abnormalities because it is suggested by
the context
- Allegiance bias= the assessments are biased in a certain direction depending on the party
that hired the expert
- Malingering= the falsification of test results by the defendant
STUDIES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND BIOLOGICAL
FUNCTIONING
- Cross-sectional and correlational studies= Usually do not provide information about specific
genetic or environmental factors that drive this relationship
- Longitudinal study= looking at whether specific biological factors (e.g. hormone levels,
neurotransmitter levels, physiological indices, brain impairment) can predict future violations
- Adoption studies= can separate genetic factors from environmental factors
INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION
- Psychopharmacological medication
o Effective in reducing aggressive behavior in children and adolescence
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
o helps adults with impulsive aggression by increasing glucose metabolism in
orbitofrontal cortex
- Anti-androgen medication
o Helps sex offenders by reducing sex drive
o Or chemic castration (reversible)
- Omega-3 fatty acids
o Reduce aggressive behavior in children and adults
- Neurobiological research
o Applying it to population level violence early in life may help prevent violence in
adulthood
E.g. give low-income mothers help during pregnancy
- Benign brain manipulation
o Enhancing neural excitability of right lateral prefrontal cortex increases adherence to
social norms enforced by punishment
- Mindfulness training
o Improves prefrontal and amygdala functioning reduced aggression
