Department of Neurology, Division Behavioral Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Nat Rev Neurol. 2024 Mar;20(3):183-193. doi: 10.1038/s41582-023-00920-0. Epub 2024 Jan 16.
Neurological evidence is increasingly used in criminal cases to argue that a defendant is less responsible for their behaviour, is not competent to stand trial or should receive a reduced punishment for the crime. Unfortunately, neurologists are rarely involved in such cases despite having the expertise to help to inform these decisions in court. In this Perspective, we advocate for the development of 'forensic neurology', a subspecialty of neurology focused on using neurological clinical and scientific expertise to address legal questions for the criminal justice system. We review literature suggesting that the incidence of criminal behaviour is higher in people with certain neurological disorders than the general public and that undiagnosed neurological abnormalities are common in people who commit crimes. We discuss the need for forensic neurologists in criminal cases to provide an opinion on what neurological diagnoses are present, the resulting symptoms and ultimately whether the symptoms affect legal determinations such as criminal responsibility or competency.
神经学证据在刑事案件中越来越多地被用于证明被告的行为责任较轻，或其不具备受审能力，或应因其罪行从轻量刑。遗憾的是，尽管神经学家在这些案件中拥有专业知识，有助于为法庭提供决策依据，但他们很少参与此类案件。在这篇观点文章中，我们提倡发展“法医神经学”，这是神经学的一个分支学科，专注于利用神经科临床和科学专业知识，为刑事司法系统解决法律问题。我们回顾了文献，发现某些神经障碍患者的犯罪行为发生率高于普通人群，而犯罪者中未被诊断出的神经异常很常见。我们讨论了在刑事案件中，法医神经学家需要提供存在哪些神经诊断、由此产生的症状以及这些症状是否会影响法律判定，例如刑事责任或能力等意见的必要性。
