Could Brain Scans Predict Potential Murderers?

Experts say that brain scans can identify serial killers-in-waiting.

17:00 21 October 2015

Experts have unlocked the secrets that make killers, rapists, wife-beaters, and violent men more prone to aggression. Based on brain scans, they found defects in the brain that is not commonly found in the brains of ordinary men and women. For the offenders, the area that controls their temper and aggression does not function properly.

 

British-born criminologist Dr Adrian Raine, said: “The seeds of sin are sown early. We scanned over 40 convicted killers' brains against those of ordinary people and found they have lower activity in the pre-frontal area of the brain.

 

“This is the area that controls aggression, concentration and regulates impulse control.

“Psychopaths also have shrunken amygdala – the seat of the brain that controls emotion. That explains their lack of empathy, remorse or guilt when they hurt others.”

 

Discussing about Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe as an example, Dr Raine said:  “Sutcliffe was five days premature and starved of oxygen at birth. His first 10 days were a fight for life.

 

“Research has shown that this can lead to damage in another area of the brain called the hippocampus, which also regulates aggression.

 

“If you looked at the brains of every killer in Britain you would find some sort of damage, that's what our research bears out.

 

“If we could control these parts of the brain – or change them – we could in effect end crime.”