Neuroscience in the Courtroom: What Every Lawyer Should Know About the Mind and the Brain

In legal cases reading a person's mind is often attempted. There are many legal and ethical questions surrounding these attempts and the science behind them. Neuroscience in the Courtroom presents the most current research in the neuroscience area as it relates to the legal arena. In this text you will learn about the distinctions between the brain and the mind. You will also be introduced to the most recent research on detecting deception, control of aggression and the brain, cognitive disorders and brain adaptations, ethics and reliability and validation of testing and studies, and more. Actual science and pseudo-science are distinguished. This text discusses the scientific validity of information from this research as it relates to use in the courtroom. The author, William R. Uttal, also compares the results to the standards for scientific evidence presented in trial set by the Frye and Daubert criteria. He also makes recommendations as to whether or not this type of information should be admissible in court at this time. This book is an excellent starting point for any legal professional looking to understand the human mind and how research on it has impacted today's court proceedings and evidence presented.

William R. Uttal is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Michigan and Professor Emeritus of Engineering at Arizona State University. Uttal has been concerned with the way in which cognitive neuroscience has been applied to various fields for the last couple of decades. His critical analysis of the applications of this new field in the age-old venue of the courtroom was stimulated by his role as an expert witness. He is also the author of Human Factors in the Courtroom and 25 other books on various topics in philosophy, psychology, and engineering. Uttal has worked at the IBM Watson Research Center, The University of Michigan, The Naval Ocean System Center, and Arizona State University in addition to a number of visiting appointments at U.S. and Foreign Universities. He is married and has three daughters all of whom are professional scientists.