Predicting repeat offenders with brain scans: You be the judge

[Jim__]

I don't like the sound of this at all. From Medical Xpress:

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(Medical Xpress)—Despite the well known inaccuracies of polygraph lie detectors, they remain in widespread, if selective, use by the criminal justice system. While they are far from truth machines, if the person who is interviewed believes that they have caught in a lie, the prosecutorial sector can turn the thumbscrews so to speak. Predicting future arrest, however, is not something a polygraph can address—if the parolee doesn't even know if he or she might re-offend, how can a yes/no classifier? A study published yesterday in PNAS is the latest in a series of efforts to use fMRI to assign risk to the possibility of repeat offense. They do not claim to have found the repeat offense area of the brain, but rather determine this risk by proxy, namely a measure of impulsivity.

To measure impulsivity, the researchers focused on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region that when lesioned by stroke, or in animal studies has been associated with an increase in inappropriate behaviors. The test was to press a button when a common stimulus was presented, and refrain from pressing the button when a rare cue was presented. The researchers were able to show that those (N=96) who had reduced ACC activity, as inferred from the MRI signal, were associated with double the risk of repeat offense within four years of their release.

One of the concerns here is that, as we have seen, the MRI is far from quantitative. Right there in the abstract on this paper, the authors directly associate a relatively low ACC activity with an approximately double rearrest rate. For many, matching an adjective to a number, at least for measures of brain activity, is still a tough sell. Part of the problem here is that the ACC cannot be cast only as region of impulse control. We have just seen a study where DBS (deep brain stimulation) electrodes have been placed in the ACC to treat anorexia. This follows on the heels of other studies putting limbic system electrodes (in the associated fornix) to improve memory in Alzheimer's, which was a side effect of having the electrodes in there to treat, of all things, obesity.

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The abstract from the paper:

Abstract

Identification of factors that predict recurrent antisocial behavior is integral to the social sciences, criminal justice procedures, and the effective treatment of high-risk individuals. Here we show that error-related brain activity elicited during performance of an inhibitory task prospectively predicted subsequent rearrest among adult offenders within 4 y of release (N = 96). The odds that an offender with relatively low anterior cingulate activity would be rearrested were approximately double that of an offender with high activity in this region, holding constant other observed risk factors. These results suggest a potential neurocognitive biomarker for persistent antisocial behavior.

[mopinko]

1. well

on the other hand, looking at people's neurological health can help to determine things like whether a criminal has the requisite mental capacity to understand their crime. sometimes it will show the reason for the crime- think tbi and some tumors that cause violent behavior.
i think the real question is how this information is used. i think without a doubt it is valuable information.

[Warpy]

2. It will work just as well as phrenology did

We're in the infancy of studying this stuff, thanks to too many years of people blaming demons, bad blood, poor morals, and every other stupid idea moralists can come up with rather than studying an organ that can get sick like any other.

[formercia]

3. Office of Pre-Crime

I think that discriminating against someone for what they might do would be a violation of their Civil Rights.

[HereSince1628]

4. Yes, very interesting but way too creepy to be ready for Criminal Justice.