Traumatic Brain Injury, Neuroscience, and the Legal System

Abstract

This essay addresses the question: What is the probative value of including neuroscience data in court cases where the defendant might have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI)? That is, this essay attempts to articulate how well we can connect scientific data and clinical test results to the demands of the Daubert standard in the United States' court system, and, given the fact that neuroimaging is already being used in our courts, what, if anything, we should do about this fact. Ultimately, I am not sure that there are completely satisfactory answers to this query at this particular time in our legal history. I briefly rehearse the recent use of brain research in our legal system, summarize how neuroscience data regarding TBI and its relation to poor behavioral outcomes are currently used in the courtroom, review challenges with using these data, and highlight fundamental tensions between how the legal system views the causes of behavior and how medicine, neuroscience, and psychology do. Until these tensions are resolved, it is unclear the place neuroscience data should have in courts.This essay addresses the question: What is the probative value of including neuroscience data in court cases where the defendant might have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI), both for civilians and for our new population of TBI victims, returning combat veterans? That is, this essay attempts to articulate how well we can connect scientific data and clinical test results to the demands of the Daubert standard in the United States' court system, and, given the fact that neuroimaging is already being used in our courts, what, if anything, we should do about this fact. Ultimately, I am not sure that there are completely satisfactory answers to this query at this particular time in our legal history, though we are starting to see trends that suggest significant revisions in how courts view responsibility, punishment, and culpability. Incidence of Traumatic Brain InjuriesThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that there are more than 1.7 million TBIs per year in the United States, ranging from mild concussions to the most severe form of trauma [1]. A brain injury occurs approximately every 15 s in the U.S., and TBI is the leading cause of death in children and adolescents [2]. In addition, a recent review of European TBI studies calculates an incidence rate of about 235 per 100,000 there, with an average mortality rate of about 15 per 100,000 [3]. In general, TBI is the second leading cause of injury and death in adults, after general trauma [4]. Moreover, over five million Americans and almost eight million Neuroethics