Law and Neuroscience: Progress, Promise, and Pitfalls
in The Cognitive Neurosciences, 6th Edition (Gazzaniga, Mangun, and Poeppel, eds) (MIT Press, 2020)
11 Pages Posted: 31 May 2018 Last revised: 1 Jun 2021
Date Written: April 1, 2018
Abstract
This forthcoming chapter provides an overview of the newest developments at the interface of law and neuroscience.
It describes what is happening, explains the potential influences of neuroscientific evidence, and explores the contexts in which neuroscience can be useful to law.
Along the way, it considers some of the legal problems on which neuroscientific data are thought to provide potential answers. It highlights some illustrative cases. And it surveys new brain imaging research by interdisciplinary teams of legal scholars, judges, and neuroscientists.
Keywords: law and neuroscience, neurolaw, cognitive science, brain scan, memory, psychology, criminal, responsibility, mens rea, tort, contract, evidence, injury, emotion, lie detection, judging, psychopathy, fMRI, EEG, decision making, neuroethics, punishment, sentencing, mental states, adolescents
JEL Classification: D87
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation