"Potholes" in the brain...

[Bigmack]

I've been away, so this is old, but a search of DU didn't find it.

Seems that psychopaths have brain deficits. I used to confound my Psych 101 students by posing the question "If a person has a brain disorder, is he/she responsible for their actions?" This has huge implications for "justice". What do we do with people who commit horrible crimes, but it's because of organic brain disorders. Fundies usually say to punish them, and we sure as hell can't let them go.... so what do we do?
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"Psychopaths who kill and rape have faulty connections between the part of the brain dealing with emotions and that which handles impulses and decision-making, scientists have found.

In a study of psychopaths who had committed murder, manslaughter, multiple rape, strangulation and false imprisonment, the British scientists found that roads linking the two crucial brain areas had "potholes," while those of non-psychopaths were in good shape."

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE5764NI20090807

[gkhouston]

1. Yes, I'd heard that before. As for what we do with people who commit horrible

crimes due to organic brain disorders, we lock them up somewhere. We can't just let them out into society where they will re-offend. Their victims aren't any less dead because the psychopaths had a brain defect. We could incarcerate them in some sort of high-security ward in a mental facility.

[Marr]

2. The thing that always strikes me about these kinds of conditions is

that they're often presented as if they exist separately from the person. This disorder *is* the person. This is their mind. Describing the particulars of a murderer's brain doesn't put him or her beyond judgement-- it's only provides a more detailed picture of the killer.

It's different if you're talking about some kind of temporary condition, or even a physically correctable one.

[redqueen]

3. Key quote:

"As for the moral significance for society, and how society wants to deal with these things, that is a little premature," said Craig. "This is a small study and the important thing it raises is that more research needs to be done."

[TommyO]

4. Is there a corresponding study that takes a group of people with "potholes"

and looks at the ones that have committed murder, manslaughter, rape, etc against those that haven't?