Winter School Keynote Lecture: Kent A. Kiehl (New Mexico)
Part of the Winter School Ethics of Neuroscience and AI (Zoom)
Winter School webpage: https://www.bccn-berlin.de/events-list/winter-school-ethics-of-neuroscience-and-ai-2022.html
Video link open to all: https://vimeo.com/event/1871044
Organizers:
Professor John-Dylan Haynes (Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin)
Professor Thomas Schmidt (Department of Philosophy, HU Berlin)
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience
Berlin School of Mind and Brain
Cluster Science of Intelligence
Keynote lecture (open to all - full winter school registration not required!)
“Perspectives of forensic neuroimaging”
Abstract: The societal cost of crime in the United States is a staggering $3.2 trillion dollars per year, more than the cost of all health expenditures. Despite this vast expense, there has been little modern neuroscience research with forensic populations. But this is beginning to change. My team utilizes a unique mobile MRI system that is deployed inside the fences of prisons in North America. We have collected MRI data on more than 5000 inmates who have volunteered to participate in research and treatment studies. This body of work has led to some interesting, and sometimes controversial, findings. Empirical analyses indicate we can identify brain differences in youth and adults with high levels of psychopathic traits, machine learning techniques can be used to classify such individuals with 85% accuracy. Additional work shows brain imaging data helps predict who will commit crimes upon release from prison, including who will commit new violent crimes. Decision-makers in the judicial system, including judges and prosecutors, want to use these data to help inform public safety. This new science raises important ethical and policy questions, which will be reviewed and discussed.
Dr. Kiehl is a Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Law at the University of New Mexico and Executive Science Officer of the non-profit Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Kiehl conducts clinical neuroscience research of major mental illnesses and brain injury.
Kent Kiehl’s laboratory makes use of a one-of-a-kind Mobile MRI system to conduct research and treatment protocols with forensic populations. His laboratory has deployed the Mobile MRI to collect brain imaging data from over 5000 offenders at ten different facilities in two states. This represents the world’s largest forensic neuroscience repository. Kent Kiehl lectures extensively to state and federal judges, lawyers, and lay audiences about the intersection of neuroscience and law. In the last several years he has worked with the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) to develop the educational curriculum for federal judges on neuroscience in the courtroom. He also serves as a legal consultant on criminal and civil cases involving brain imaging.
Kent A. Kiehl, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Law, University of New Mexico. Dr. Kiehl recently published a popular audience book, The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience.
