Neurosciences applied to the criminological study of crime

How do criminologists use the keys of neuroscience to understand the criminal mind?

The human brain is something so complex and (almost) perfect that it has been a source of curiosity since the times of Hippocrates. With the advance of science and technology, neurosciences have been gradually solving the enigmas of the marvelous human brain trying to explain the reason for human behavior, including phenomena as complex as crime.

Why does a man commit a crime? What causes motivate him to transgress the rules? Why does the idea of being punished by the law not frighten him? As we shared with you in a recent article, criminology is the science that seeks to answer these questions by studying antisocial behavior, which is that which harms and goes against the common good. But in order to study crime and antisocial behavior, criminology relies on several sciences and disciplines, among which are the aforementioned neurosciences.

Studies of criminals' brains

One of the most famous cases that have been the subject of study of neurology focused on criminological purposes, and that put in check concepts such as the free will of the offender and concepts such as malice and guilt dates back to 2003. In that year, a 40-year-old man who had never previously exhibited sexual behavioral disorders was convicted of child molestation..

Biological causes of antisocial behavior

A brain MRI on the subject showed a hemangiopericytoma in the orbitofrontal region which, after removal, caused the pedophilic symptoms to vanish, so he was granted release. It was not until a year later that the fixation towards minors began to be born again. After a new MRI scan it was observed that the tumor had reappeared and once again, after being operated on, the symptoms disappeared.

More studies linking brain dysfunctions to antisocial personality disorder

Research that has been the subject of debate spearheaded by the American Society for Neuroscience suggest that there are deficits in specific brain structures including areas related to empathy, fear of punishment, and ethics among those with antisocial personality disorder.

Similar studies have been presented by Adrian Rayne, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania. This professor conducted an interesting study with 792 murderers with antisocial personality disorder, finding that their cerebral prefrontal cortex was significantly smaller in size relative to another group that did not have antisocial disorder.. As if this finding were not enough, it was also discovered that these individuals tended to have damage to brain structures linked to the ability to make moral judgments. These regions were the amygdala and the gyrus angularis.

Endocrinology to the aid of criminology

Criminology has become increasingly interested in how the endocrine glands relate to criminal behavior. how the endocrine glands are related to criminal behavior.. For example: we know that in a dangerous situation we can react by paralyzing, fleeing or attacking. Of the first option we know that it is the cortisol mainly in charge of transmitting this stress response, however in relation to the last two it is the adrenaline. adrenaline the one in charge of preparing the body for these reactions.

It is known with certainty that if an individual presents some dysfunction (for example, as a result of a trauma) that leads the individual's adrenal glands to an increased production of adrenaline, the subject will have a special tendency to engage in aggressive behavior, such as violent and physical crimes, the subject will be particularly prone to aggressive behaviors, such as violent and physical crimes.. As for sexual delinquency, other studies conducted in the United States have shown that inmates who committed violent sexual crimes show elevated levels of testosterone in their bodies in relation to the rest of the prison population.

Eynseck and the arousal theory of psychological types

Hans Eynseck maintains that the nervous system of extroverts and introverts tends toward one of two fundamental characteristicsThe following is a general statement: excitation and inhibition, stating that the so-called extroverts are predisposed to inhibition while introverts are predisposed to excitation, which is why the activities between each type are usually compensatory to their predisposition to the stimuli.

For example, being an introvert more easily excitable, will tend to seek out less compelling stimuli and thus quieter, more solitary activities; whereas the extrovert will tend to seek out less compelling stimuli and thus quieter, more solitary activities.while the extrovert will need to seek out stimuli given his natural inhibition. In his theory, he states that extroverts are more inclined to criminality because they are frequently in search of exciting stimuli, however when an introvert takes the step to the act, he may commit more serious crimes. In addition to noting a tendency of the extrovert for sadism and psychopathy while the introvert tends to masochism and autism.

Are criminals born or made?

Faced with the eternal debate among sociologists, psychologists, biologists and other specialists in human behavior, criminology has opted to resolve this issue under the resolution that the offender is the product of both the predisposition of their psychophysiological, genetic and individual characteristics and the interaction between the social environment, anomie, culture, education, among others..

Therefore, to say that a certain neurobiological damage was the definitive cause of the commission of a crime would be not only terse but also inconclusive, because the subject needs a Wide range of factors to commit the crime, as well as opportunity, motives, etc., to commit the crime.in addition to opportunity, motive, etc. It is the job of criminology to detect how much "strength" a neurological factor presents to have been the cause of the crime, working together with the neurosciences that day by day unveil little by little the secrets of the nervous system and the human brain.