There are several theories about the cause aggression and violence. Researchers believe environmental effects during childhood prior to puberty can affect a person’s violent tendencies as an adult. Serious traumatic experiences or social or physical abuse in combination with high levels of MAOA leads to more antisocial and aggressive tendencies as an adult. High levels of MAOA alone do not predispose a person to aggression, but social and physical abuse trigger the MAOA gene leading to the aggressive and antisocial tendencies.
Neurological imaging of Joel Rifkin’s brain showed little prefrontal cortex activity and poor symmetry. Originally Rifkin appeared to be functioning normal with an average to superior IQ and an MRI that appeared structurally …show more content…
Hamsters were used to study aggression because they exhibit aggressive tendencies toward one another, but don’t fatally harm each other. Adolescent hamsters were put in a cage with an older, more dominant and aggressive hamster. As adults, these hamsters became more aggressive when around smaller, weaker hamsters, but if placed in an environment with hamsters the same size or larger they became scared and skittish. This phenomenon can be explained by the hormones vasopressin and serotonin. Due to the increase in vasopressin, the attack chemical, the brain becomes numb and less responsive to serotonin, the peacemaker chemical in the brain. This relationship between vasopressin and serotonin can also be observed in murderers. In a different study using rhesus monkeys, young monkeys were taken from their mothers and placed in an environment to be raised by their peers. From this study, researchers found that the abuse does not have to be physical to elicit a negative response in primates. The monkeys taken from their mothers turned violent from the lack of parental care, supporting the conclusion that social abuse can have the same type of effect as physical …show more content…
Lawyers argue that there was a biological cause for murder and that the murderer could not control their impulse even if they knew it was wrong. The use of brain scans in the courtroom has been a source of controversy, with some arguing that we don’t yet know enough about brain scans to use them in such a context. The use of scans in the courtroom has never been able to completely remove charges to set a murderer free, but they have been used to remove the death sentence or shorten a sentence. In my opinion, I don’t think brain scans should be used in court. We are all ultimately responsible for our actions and should be held to such responsibility. If we become more lenient in court and allow reduced sentences for murderers who were unable to control their impulses, we will eventually become more lenient in all cases where a brain dysfunction shows that impulses could not be controlled. If we begin to allow criminals to escape responsibility for their actions, what’s to reason that crime would not rise, because as long as you can prove you have a dysfunctional prefrontal cortex, you can get away with it. Murder is murder, whether you could control yourself or not, and saying that a murderer had a brain dysfunction does nothing to console a family who has
Neurological imaging of Joel Rifkin’s brain showed little prefrontal cortex activity and poor symmetry. Originally Rifkin appeared to be functioning normal with an average to superior IQ and an MRI that appeared structurally …show more content…
Hamsters were used to study aggression because they exhibit aggressive tendencies toward one another, but don’t fatally harm each other. Adolescent hamsters were put in a cage with an older, more dominant and aggressive hamster. As adults, these hamsters became more aggressive when around smaller, weaker hamsters, but if placed in an environment with hamsters the same size or larger they became scared and skittish. This phenomenon can be explained by the hormones vasopressin and serotonin. Due to the increase in vasopressin, the attack chemical, the brain becomes numb and less responsive to serotonin, the peacemaker chemical in the brain. This relationship between vasopressin and serotonin can also be observed in murderers. In a different study using rhesus monkeys, young monkeys were taken from their mothers and placed in an environment to be raised by their peers. From this study, researchers found that the abuse does not have to be physical to elicit a negative response in primates. The monkeys taken from their mothers turned violent from the lack of parental care, supporting the conclusion that social abuse can have the same type of effect as physical …show more content…
Lawyers argue that there was a biological cause for murder and that the murderer could not control their impulse even if they knew it was wrong. The use of brain scans in the courtroom has been a source of controversy, with some arguing that we don’t yet know enough about brain scans to use them in such a context. The use of scans in the courtroom has never been able to completely remove charges to set a murderer free, but they have been used to remove the death sentence or shorten a sentence. In my opinion, I don’t think brain scans should be used in court. We are all ultimately responsible for our actions and should be held to such responsibility. If we become more lenient in court and allow reduced sentences for murderers who were unable to control their impulses, we will eventually become more lenient in all cases where a brain dysfunction shows that impulses could not be controlled. If we begin to allow criminals to escape responsibility for their actions, what’s to reason that crime would not rise, because as long as you can prove you have a dysfunctional prefrontal cortex, you can get away with it. Murder is murder, whether you could control yourself or not, and saying that a murderer had a brain dysfunction does nothing to console a family who has