NEUROCRIMINALISTicNEUROCRIMINALISTicSS

By: Don JacobsBy: Don Jacobs

“The Why of the Who”Neologism (Jacobs, 2005) for cutting-edge research into the criminal mind (CMA) via brain due to advances in Neuropsych & Medical technoscience:

• High Resolution Brain Scans— PETs, fMRIs, SPECT, etc• Brain Fingerprinting- The P3 wave of the Future• Neuropsych Paradigms MacLain’s Triune Brain Model Brain Development Longitudinal Studies (Giedd, Volkow Neuroimaging Studies Blunt Affect/Histrionic (Inappropriate) Affect: Emotional disconnects• The Savage Architects of Mind (Jacobs, 2005) Brainstem/Midbrain Limbic System (MLS) hijacking prefrontal, temporal regions • Tangential: Criminal Profiling, Victimology, Psychological Autopsy

The Prefix “neuro”Biological Nerve Systems

Writer Aldous Huxley suggested we may soon have a academic discipline known as NEUROTHEOLOGY—the neurological basis of theology

Film documentarian Roger Bingham predicted one day we will study NEUROPOLITICS—The biological basis of political behavior

NEUROCRIMINALISTICS (Jacobs, 2005) seeks to untangle the pretzel of the violent, predatory criminal mind within the context of biology exacerbated by social learning.

NeurocriminalisticsTargets What?

The Predatory Psychopath “Cold-blooded, remorseless, violent, sexual predator” Observed as ‘emotional disconnects’ No “subjective distress”—Ego Syntonic

Antisocial Violent Criminal “Violent, often hot-blooded and remorseful killers” Antisocial mindset of criminality Feels emotional turmoil—Ego Dystonic

Comorbid Diagnosis Charles Manson—Antisocial, Psychopathic

PSYCHOPATHY “The First Personality Disorder”

“Within each of us lies a hard, reptilian core of need. Neurophysiology places that core of primary needs in the brainstem and limbic system…(by)…the process of conditioning, of restraining, that primitive core breaks down in the psychopath, leading to (1) an impoverished internal emotional life and (2) an inability to empathize with others. It also leads to a special kind of violence and aggressive behavior, distinct from the majority of aggressors or convicted felons (antisocials).”

James Santiago Grisolia

Violence & Psychopathy

Psychopathic Personality“The Nature of Violent, Cold-Blooded Predators”

Psychopathy: an emotionally and behaviorally disordered state characterized by clear perception of reality except for social and moral obligations, and often by the pursuit of

Immediate personal gratification (a) criminal acts (b) drug addiction (c) sexual perversion

Blunt Affect

observed in Psychopathy

Diagnostic Neurocriminalistics

“THE TOOLS”

From Behavioral NeuroscienceNeurological “Disconnect”

Show: Joel Rifkin, and the pedophile

Theatrical (Inappropriate) Affect observed in psychopathy

Out of Sinc Emotional Display

Show: Michael Ross & Susan Smith

Brain Fingerprinting The P3 Wave. Images of the crime cannot

be concealed within cortices of the brain—there is no place to hide. Evidence stored in the brain will match evidence extracted at the crime scene. The pattern allows for a positive reading detected by waves occurring 300 milliseconds after a stimulus—The P3 Wave).

ERP Event-related-potential is the index for how the brain process meaningful events with the distinctive P3 paradigm as events known only to a perpetrator and outside his/her control.

The Triune Brain “Three Brains in One”By Neurologist Paul MacLean

High Resolution Neuroimaging

“The Brain Scans”

Sample referencesSample references

The Psychopathology of Crime• 1993 by Adrian Raine, Ph.D., Academic Press

Violence and Psychopathy• 2001 by Raine, Sanmartin Eds. Kluwer Press

Without Conscience• 1998 by Robert Hare, Ph.D., Guilford Press

Guilty By Reason of Insanity• 1994 by Dorothy Ontow Lewis, M.D.

Neuropsych & Neurological Research• Jonathan Pinkus, Daniel Amen, Antonio Damasio

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science (8th ed)

• Richard Saferstein, Ph.D.

Forensic science texts:Forensic science texts: LAB 40, Inside the Yellow Tape: Forensic Evidence &

Analysis • 2006 By L. Farr, E. MacKenzie, and D. Jacobs

LAB 50, Forensic Neuropsychology: The Savage Architects• 2006 Jacobs and MacKenzie

Psychology in the Age of Neuroscience: The Forensic Science Ed., 2006 Don Jacobs

Criminal Psych: Sexual Predators in the Age of Neuroscience• 2006 Don Jacobs

Inside the Clinical Picture• 2002 Don Jacobs

Coming January, 2006 The “Lab 50” Forensic Neuropsych text & lab reflecting material presented in the Tarrant County ME’s 6th annual convention. Go to viconpublishing.com and follow prompts

Video References Inside the Mind of Criminal Profilers

TLC Video (2001) Films for H & S Psychopaths (2002) Films for H & S The Killer Sex (2003) Films for H & S The Mind of a Killer (2002) Films for H & S

Contact Don Jacobs

Training Seminars Group Presentations The Teenage Brain The Savage Architects What Lies Beneath

Psychopathy Sleep/Dreams &

Nightmares Forensic Neuropsych djacobs@wc.edu 817-598-6431