June 25, 2007

Forensic brain scanning: Online resources

The use of brain scans to explain criminal conduct is a rapidly growing and controversial application of neuroscience to law. Now, cutting-edge discourses by experts in the field are being made available on-line.

“The Law and Ethics of Brain Scanning” was the topic of a conference at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law back in April. MP3 audio files of the presentations are available at the conference web site, http://www.law.asu.edu/?id=658. Included are an overview of brain scanning technologies, a presentation on the science-versus-pseudoscience debate, and lectures on the legal admissibility and ethics of such emergent technologies.

ABC’s “All in the Mind” show is also featuring audio downloads of its series, “Mind Reading: Neuroscience in the Witness Stand.” The ABC website, http://shurl.org/brainscan, features links to other publications and information sources on neuroscience in court.