Adrian Raine Investigates the Intersection of Neuroscience and Crime

In his October 20 Penn Lightbulb Café talk on “The Anatomy of Violence,” Adrian Raine, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in Penn Arts and Sciences’ Departments of Criminology and Psychology, discussed the neuroscience of crime and its implications for societal views of moral responsibility, free will, and punishment.

Using historical examples of criminal perpetrators with neurological damage, the Richard Perry University Professor challenged the audience to ponder the ethics of punishing prisoners if the neural circuitry underlying their morality is compromised.

“I was amazed at the engagement of the people and vibrancy of the questions," said Raine. "It was really like a class, a really good class where students ask a lot of questions and are very open-minded.”

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