Which Future for Neuroscience in Forensic Psychiatry: Theoretical Hurdles and Empirical Chances

Casartelli, Luca; Chiamulera, Cristiano

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00074

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The finding of an increased brain pathology score in the forensic inpatients was corroborated by a main effect of the factor delinquency status. This is in line with the results of earlier studies describing a high proportion of traumatic brain injury in the history of forensic inpatients [11] and highlights the importance of investigations of brain damage in a forensic psychiatric evaluation [9,[14][15][16].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Even though it is a crucial element of court proceedings to assess whether the perpetrator could tell apart right from wrong in a specific delinquency situation, the assessment of neuronal integrity might be considered as a very important basic information in order to comprehend basic abilities of a person [9]. On the other hand, such information on neuronal integrity has to be carefully considered in the court trial and to be evaluated explicitly and in depth with regard to its effects on the capacity of an offender [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Increased frequency of brain pathology in inmates of a high-security forensic institution: a qualitative CT and MRI scan study

Witzel¹,

Bogerts

Schiltz

2015

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to assess whether brain pathology might be more abundant in forensic inpatients in a high-security setting than in non-criminal individuals. By using a previously used reliable approach, we explored the frequency and extent of brain pathology in a large group of institutionalized offenders who had not previously been considered to be suffering from structural brain damage and compare it to healthy, non-offending subjects. MRI and CT brain scans from 148 male inpatients of a high-security mental health institution (offense type: 51 sex, 80 violent, 9 arson, and 8 nonviolent) that were obtained due to headache, vertigo, or psychological complaints during imprisonment were assessed and compared to 52 non-criminal healthy controls. Brain scans were assessed qualitatively with respect to evidence of structural brain damage. Each case received a semiquantitative rating of "normal" (=0), "questionably abnormal" (=1), or "definitely abnormal" (=2) for the lateral ventricles, frontal/parietal cortex, and medial temporal structures bilaterally as well as third ventricle. Forensic inpatients displayed signs of brain damage to a significantly higher degree than healthy controls (p < 0.001). Even after adjustment for age, in the patients, being younger than the controls (p < 0.05), every offender type group displayed a higher proportion of subjects with brain regions categorized as definitely abnormal than the non-criminal controls. Within the forensic inpatients, offense type groups did not significantly differ in brain pathology. The astonishingly high prevalence of brain pathology in institutionalized inmates of a high-security mental health institution who previously had not been considered to be suffering from an organic brain syndrome raises questions on whether such neuroradiological assessment might be considered as a routine procedure in newly admitted patients. Furthermore, it highlights that organic changes, detectable under clinical routine conditions, may play a role in the development of legally relevant behavioral disturbances which might be underestimated.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%