Behavioral & Neuroscience Law Committee (BNLC)

News and Research Blurb

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Janet Smith
Eric Y. Drogin, J.D., Ph.D., ABPP
BNLC Chair
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
339.200.9131
eyd@drogin.net
edrogin@bidmc.harvard.edu

Kate Mayer Mangan, J.D.

BNLC Vice Chair
Donocle
San Diego, CA
kate@donocle.com

Jana Robinson, J.D., M.A.

BNLC Vice Chair
Family Division, NJ Superior Court
Trenton, NJ
janet.robinson@icloud.com

Carol Spaderna, LL.B.

BNLC Vice Chair
Aberystwyth University
Aberystwyth, Wales
cas55@aber.ac.uk

Janet M. Smith
Editor, BNLC News and Research Blurb
William & Mary Law School, 2017
Williamsburg, VA
jmsmith03@email.wm.edu

BNLC BlurbOctober 2015

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DECISION-MAKING & RESPONSIBILITY

Love Beer and Coffee? You Might Be A Psychopath. POPULAR SCIENCE. In a recent study, 500 participants
were asked how much they enjoyed different examples of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter foods. Then,
they were asked to take a series of personality assessment quizzes, evaluating aggression, the Dark
Triad measures (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism), everyday sadism (verbal, physical,
and vicarious), and the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
emotional stability, and openness). Researchers found that people who liked bitter foods were also
more likely to score highly in measures of psychopathy, sadism, and aggression. In fact, an affinity
for bitter foods was a better predictor of personality than any of the other tastes. Taken together,
the results suggest that how much people like bitter-tasting foods and drinks is stably tied to how
dark their personality is, the study authors wrote. (October 12, 2015)
http://www.popsci.com/psychopaths-may-prefer-bitter-foods
Antisocial Behavior and Polymorphisms in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene: Findings in Two Independent Samples.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. The quantitative genetic contribution to antisocial behavior is well
established, but few, if any, genetic variants are established as risk factors. Emerging evidence
suggests that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) may modulate interpersonal aggression. This study
investigated whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the OXT receptor gene (OXTR)
are associated with the expression of antisocial behavior. Researchers conclude that the rs7632287
and rs4564970 polymorphisms in OXTR may independently influence antisocial behavior in
adolescent boys. Further replication of these results will be crucial to understanding how aberrant
social behavior arises and would support the OXT receptor as one potential target in the treatment
of aggressive antisocial behavior. (September 22, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2015144a.html
The Rationality of Rage. NEW YORK TIMES. Expressing anger is known to be a useful tool in
negotiations. Indeed, in the past few years, researchers have been learning more about when and
how to deploy anger productively. Consider a forthcoming paper in the November issue of the
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Researchers tested the effectiveness of expressing anger
in three types of negotiations: those that are chiefly cooperative (starting a business with a partner),
chiefly competitive (dissolving a shared business), or balanced between the two (selling a business to
a buyer). In two experiments, negotiators made greater concessions to those who expressed anger
but only in balanced situations. When cooperating, hostility seems inappropriate, and when
competing, additional heat only flares tempers. But in between, anger appears to send a strategically
useful signal. (September 18, 2015)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/opinion/sunday/the-rationality-of-rage.html
Researchers Find Suicide Trigger In How We Make Decisions. CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Researchers
administered a neurophysiological test involving a betting game, in which players must win as much
money as possible by choosing cards from several piles. While individuals from families without
suicide learned to choose the piles that paid off over the long term, the relatives of suicide
completers continued to make high-risk choices, even after numerous attempts, demonstrating a
higher degree of difficulty in learning from experience. Functional MRI results confirmed
differences in prefrontal cortex activity. In the context of depression, this decision-making difficulty
may translate into choosing death after failing to see alternative solutions. (August 27, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/pmjuxju
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Why Sticking a Pair of Eyeballs on a Sign Actually Changes Behavior. ATLAS OBSCURA. Police in the United
Kingdom have been using eye-inhabiting signs as part of crime deterrence programs for the past
decade. In 2013, posters in Nottinghamshire featuring the eyes of one of their police inspectors
reportedly cut theft rates by 40 percent. In 2011, a group of scientists at Newcastle Universitys
Center for Behavior and Evolution placed a variety of posters around campus where students were
prone to litter. Researchers found that when the posters featured images of eyes, students were twice
as likely to clean up their mess. The results may be explained by a phenomenon called gaze
detection. Studies show that certain brain cells fire when someone is staring at you, but do not get
triggered when they're looking only a few degrees to your left or right. It is plausible that if we think
we are being watched we might behave. It is clear that eyes capture visual attention. Eyes stand out
(often the first thing people notice), so it may just be that the eyes make people notice the signs,
which then have more effect. (August 20, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/ptm2ss3
JUVENILE ISSUES
3-State Project to Look at Developing Adolescent Brains. SF GATE. Scientists at the universities of New
Mexico and Nevada will scan the brains of 230 children between the ages of 9 and 15, taking three
scans of each over the four-year project. Tulane University scientists will analyze DNA from cheek
swabs taken with each scan to study methylation, a process that regulates the effects of genes. All
three institutions will analyze and model various aspects of the data. That will let researchers
evaluate whether different parts of the brain develop at the same time, or whether specific areas
become more set earlier than others. (October 8, 2015)
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3-state-project-to-look-at-developing-adolescent-6558541.php
How Poverty Affects Childrens Brains. WASHINGTON POST. A recent study found that family income
was significantly correlated with childrens brain sizespecifically, the surface area of the cerebral
cortex. Some feared these findings would be used to reinforce the notion that people remain in
poverty because they are less capable than those with higher incomes. But, these results do not lead
to that conclusion. The brain is most malleable in the early years of life, and the experiences during
that time have lifelong effects. Poverty depletes parents cognitive resources, leaving less capacity for
making everyday parenting decisions. These parents are also at a greater risk for depression and
anxietypovertys mental tax. When parents are distracted or depressed, family life may be
characterized by conflict and emotional withdrawal. Parents may not talk and read to their kids as
often and may make less eye contact. Accumulation of stress in childrens lives has cascading effects
on brain systems critical to learning, remembering, and reasoning. (October 2, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/ntnhbmc
MENTAL ILLNESS
Brains Immune Cells Hyperactive in Schizophrenia. THE GUARDIAN. According to a new study by
researchers at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre in London, the brains immune cells are hyperactive
in people who are at risk of developing schizophrenia, as well as during the earliest stages of the
disease. The findings, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that inflammatory
processes play an important role in the development of the disease and raise the possibility that it
could be treated with drugs that block or reduce this cellular response. (October 16, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/pmwsh76
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Regulation of Fear Extinction Versus Other Affective Behaviors by Discrete Cortical Scaffolding Complexes
Associated with NR2B and PKA Signaling. TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY. Patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience anxiety and depression in addition to fear evoked by
trauma-related memories. This presents a treatment challenge as certain potent antidepressants and
anxiolytics block fear extinction. In particular, blocking fear extinction is observed with antagonists
of the NR2B subunit of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and activators of cAMP-dependent protein
kinase (PKA). Using mice, researchers attempted to overcome this problem by interfering with
individual NR2B and PKA signaling complexes organized by scaffolding proteins. Targeting the
retrosplenial cortex (an area involved in fear extinction and mood regulation), researchers
administered tat peptide infusions to displace NR2B from receptor for activated C kinase 1
(RACK1), PKA from A-kinase anchor proteins (AKAPs), or PKA from microtubule-associated
proteins (MAPs). Tat-RACK1 and tat-AKAP enhanced fear extinction, but disruption of PKA
interfered with rapid antidepressant actions. Whereas AKAP-PKA appears to modulate fear
extinction and antidepressant responses in opposite directions, NR2B-RACK1 complexes
specifically contribute to fear extinction without interfering with antidepressant responses, providing
a target for the treatment of PTSD. (October 13, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v5/n10/full/tp2015150a.html
Refugees and Mental Health: These People Are Stronger Than Us. THE GUARDIAN. The psychological and
social stresses often experienced by refugees during migration can double the prevalence of severe
disorders (psychosis, severe depression, and disabling anxiety) and increase the figures of mild to
moderate mental disorders from 10% to 15-20%, according to the World Health Organization.
Indeed, the number of cases in Sicily so far has been significantly more than they expected. This
does not mean these refugees are psychologically weak. Rather, the figures testify to the cumulative
impact of extraordinarily difficult experiences. Most of the refugees in Sicily have traveled for a year
or more before they arrive. In that time, they encounter dangerous situations in dealing with
smugglers, traversing the desert, and encountering ongoing combat. The stressful wait during the
months after arrival is often when trauma takes shape. The past comes back, the present is difficult,
and the future is uncertain. Refugees sometimes arrive in good mental health and become
increasingly depressed as the months wear on. (September 14, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/qf4p7s8
Can a Blood Test Predict Suicide? THE DAILY BEAST. In a paper published in Molecular Psychiatry in
August, scientists say theyve discovered biomarkers in the blood that, when combined with results
of a mental health questionnaire, can predict with 92 percent accuracy whether someone has high
suicide risk or suicidal ideation. A decade ago, there was a lack of objective biomarkers for mental
illness, says Alexander Niculescu III, MD, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of
Indiana, director of the Laboratory of Neurophenomics, and senior author of the study. But over
the last 10 years, weve been trying to find molecular changes, or different genetic fingerprints, that
indicate mental illnesses. (September 2, 2015)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/02/can-a-blood-test-predict-suicide.html
Holocaust Exposure Induced Intergenerational Effects on FKBP5 Methylation. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. The
involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in intergenerational transmission of stress effects has been
demonstrated in animals but not in humans. A new study provides the first demonstration of an
association of pre-conception parental trauma with epigenetic alterations that are evident in both
exposed parent and offspring, providing insight into how severe psychophysiological trauma can
have intergenerational effects. The new data supports an intergenerational epigenetic priming of the
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physiological response to stress in offspring of highly traumatized individuals. Two sites anticipated
to operate similarly to regulate FKBP5 gene expression were demonstrated to have different
environmental influences. The mechanism of intergenerational transmission of epigenetic effects is
not known, but does not appear to be mediated by childhood adversity. Early detection of such
epigenetic markers may advance the development of preventive strategies to address the
intergenerational sequelae of exposure to trauma. (August 12, 2015)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322315006526
ADDICTION
Lateral Prefrontal Model-Based Signatures Are Reduced in Healthy Individuals with High Trait Impulsivity.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY. High impulsivity is an important risk factor for addiction. In
addiction, behavioral control is shifted toward the habitual end. So far, no studies have examined the
behavioral and neural signatures of habitual/model-free and goal-directed/model-based control in
healthy, high-impulsive individuals. In this study, healthy participants were drawn from the upper
and lower ends of 452 individuals, completing the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. All participants
performed a sequential decision-making task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
and underwent structural MRI. Right lateral prefrontal goal-directed/model-based signatures were
reduced in high-impulsive individuals. Gray matter density in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
was positively associated with goal-directed/model-based control. This study supports the idea that
high levels of impulsivity are accompanied by behavioral and neural signatures in favor of
habitual/model-free behavioral control. The predictive relevance of these results remains an
important target for future longitudinal studies. (October 13, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v5/n10/full/tp2015139a.html
Rewriting the Valuation and Salience of Alcohol-Related Stimuli Via Memory Reconsolidation. TRANSLATIONAL
PSYCHIATRY. In 59 hazardous drinkers, researchers tested a novel retrieval procedure for
destabilizing well-learned, cue-drinking memory networks that maximized prediction error (PE) via
guided expectancy violation during retrieval of these memories. Researchers subsequently
counterconditioned alcohol cues with disgusting tastes and images in all groups and assessed
response to alcohol stimuli 1 week later. Counterconditioning following PE retrieval produced
generalized reductions in oculomotor attentional bias, explicit valuation, and outcome expectancies
in response to alcohol cues 1 week after intervention, which evidenced the updating of distributed
motivational drinking memory networks. This study demonstrated that well-learned, cue-drinking
memories can be destabilized and that learning history need not constrain memory destabilization if
prediction error is maximized at retrieval. Broad rewriting of diverse aspects of maladaptive memory
by counterconditioning is achievable following this procedure. The procedure described may
provide a platform for the development of novel memory-modifying interventions for substance
abuse disorders. (September 22, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v5/n9/full/tp2015132a.html
Alcohol Elicits Functional and Structural Plasticity Selectively in Dopamine D1 Receptor-Expressing Neurons of the
Dorsomedial Striatum. JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. Addiction is thought to be a maladaptive form of
learning and memory caused by drug-evoked aberrant synaptic plasticity. This study unraveled a
long-lasting cellular mechanism that may contribute to the memory of alcohol-seeking behaviors.
Researchers found that alcohol consumption produced a long-lasting enhancement of channel
activity and persistent alterations of neuronal morphology in the dorsomedial striatum, the part of
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the brain that controls alcohol-drinking behaviors. The study showed that these alterations occur
only in a subpopulation of neurons that positively control reward and reinforcement of drug abuse.
Blocking the activity of this neuronal population reduced alcohol intake. As such synaptic and
structural changes are the cellular hallmarks of learning and memory, these neuroadaptations may
drive the development of pathological heavy alcohol consumption. (August 19, 2015)
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/33/11634.abstract
SENTENCING & PUNISHMENT
The Funny Thing About Adversity. NEW YORK TIMES. New research sheds light on adversitys
seemingly contradictory effects. Living through hardship both increases and decreases empathy,
depending on the circumstance. Having known suffering in life generally heightens the compassion
we feel for others, except when the suffering of another involves specific painful events we know all
too well. Here, familiarity really does breed contempt. (October 16, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/pn5m5h8
Expert: Brain Map Able to Predict Intelligence Could be Abused. WIRED UK. Neuroscientists have
developed a map of the human brain that they claim could be able to predict cognitive traits
including intelligence and addiction. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, used fMRI data
to record brain activity. The findings indicate that individual brains have a 'functional fingerprint'
with which scientists can identify particular people. The images are also subtle enough to roughly
calculate how intelligent each person is likely to be and how prone they are to addiction. This
fingerprint is based on brain activity, rather than the physical structure of the brain that traditional
models have used, and is thus able to account for the unique individual differences for which
broader biological models are unable to account. The predictive potential of the findings will be
controversial, however, with many worried that such information could be used to discriminate
against those with 'undesirable' cognitive traits. (October 13, 2015)
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-10/13/brain-activity-map
Women Who Show Anger Are Taken Less Seriously. NEW YORK MAGAZINE. When women expressed
anger during group deliberation, it undermined their argument, and people were less likely to be
influenced by their opinion. For men, on the other hand, the opposite was true. These diverging
consequences might result in women potentially having less influence on societally important
decisions than men, such as jury verdicts, wrote the study authors, Jessica Salerno of Arizona State
University and Liana Peter-Hagene of the University of Illinois at Chicago. (October 13, 2015)
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/10/women-who-show-anger-are-taken-less-seriously.html
Neuroscience: The Aesthetic Brain. NATURE. While the amygdala is central to our evaluation of threat, it
also contributes to judgments of trustworthiness. This overlap might be efficient for the brain, but
as a side effect it could play a part in what psychologists call the attractiveness halo effecta
reflexive presumption that external beauty indicates overall goodness. Such a neural short cut can
lead to all sorts of social benefits for attractive people, from better grades to more lenient
punishments. A recent study shows that people presented with hiring scenarios are more likely to
award higher salaries to more attractive people. Researchers contend that society should address this
bias as much as it does for other prejudices. Efforts to minimize the effects of facial appearance on
court decisions and hiring selection should be considered. (October 7, 2015.)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v526/n7572_supp/full/526S2a.html
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NEUROSCIENCE
How the Brain Keeps Time: Study Reveals Neuron-Firing Patterns that Underlie Time Measurement. MIT NEWS.
Researchers found the lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), which plays a role in sensorimotor function,
represented elapsed time in animals measuring and reproducing a time interval. The study also
demonstrated how the firing patterns of populations of neurons in the LIP could coordinate sensory
and motor aspects of timing. While LIP represents time during interval reproduction, researchers
believe that tracking time occurs throughout brain circuits that connect subcortical structures such
as the thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum to the cortex. (October 8, 2015)
http://news.mit.edu/2015/neuron-firing-patterns-underlie-time-measurement-brain-1008
Neurosciences New Consciousness Theory Is Spiritual. HUFFINGTON POST. Integrated Information Theory
(IIT) is a new framework that describes a way to experimentally measure the extent to which a
system is conscious. It has the potential to answer questions that once seemed impossible, like
"which is more conscious, a bat or a beetle?" The theory posits that any system that processes and
integrates information, be it organic or inorganic, experiences the world subjectively to some degree.
According to IIT, the unified experience that constitutes consciousness relies on the brain's ability to
fuse together (or integrate) all incoming sensory information as a whole. IIT claims that information
measures allow one to calculate an exact number that represents the degree of integrated
information that exists in a brain at any given moment. Researchers call this metric "Phi," which
serves as an index for consciousness. The greater the Phi, the more conscious the system. It need
not matter whether it's the nervous system of a child, a cat, or a ladybug. (September 21, 2015)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bobby-azarian/post_10079_b_8160914.html
Is It Ethical For Scientists To Grow Human Brains In The Lab? FORBES. Last month, scientists at The
Ohio State University announced that they had grown a human brain in a dish. The lab group
started with adult human skin cells, transformed them into pluripotent cells, and used those to grow
a nearly complete human brain with cerebral maturity equal to that of a 5-week-old fetus. What they
grew included a spinal cord, all major regions of the brain, multiple cell types, signaling circuitry and
even a retinaall the essential pieces of an experimental model for a human brain except a vascular
system. Clearly, a lab-grown functional human brain would be an exciting experimental tool. It
would offer a way to test hypotheses and interventions (like drugs) that would be much easier to
interpret than computer simulations or tests on rodents. But, is experimenting on a human brain in a
vat more ethical than experimenting on a human brain in a scull? If the seat of our moral
considerability is our human brain, then brains that differ from ours only in whether they grew in a
skull or in a dish raise important ethical problems. (September 18, 2015)
http://tinyurl.com/ng4ndh9
The Neuroscience of Immortality. NEW YORK TIMES. Neuroscientists believe it may be possible, within a
century or so, for our minds to continue to function after deathin a computer or some other kind
of simulation. It is exceedingly tricky to transition the connectome into a state where it is both safe
from decay and can be verified as intact. One method involves soaking the brain in osmium, a heavy
metal that stains the outlines of all neurons so they can be seen under an electron microscope. The
brain is then embedded in a hard plastic resin so that the brains connections can be scanned later
on. The real challenge for aspiring mind uploaders will be figuring out how to create a fully
functioning model of a human brain from a static snapshot of its connectome. (September 12, 2015)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/03/us/13immortality-explainer.html?_r=0
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Scientists Chart a Lost Highway in the Brain. NEUROSCIENTIST NEWS. The vertical occipital fasciculus
(VOF) is a long flat bundle of nerves. This structure appeared in textbooks on the brain for about
30 years around the end of the 19th century, then mysteriously dropped out of sight completely. A
recent Stanford University study emphasizes the importance of this forgotten part of the brain. This
research showed that the VOF may provide the fundamental white matter connection between two
parts of the visual system: that which identifies objects, words, and faces and that which orients us in
space. The structure forms a highway between the lower, ventral part of the visual system, which
processes the properties of faces, words, and objects, and the upper, dorsal parietal regions, which
orients attention to an object's spatial location. (September 11, 2015)
http://www.neuroscientistnews.com/research-news/scientists-chart-lost-highway-brain
Neuroscience: Forgetfulness Illuminated. NATURE. Memories are stored in the complex network of
neurons in the brain. With the help of innovative tools to manipulate the connections between
neurons, memories in mice can now be erased with a beam of light. (September 9, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7569/full/nature15211.html
Wireless Pharmacology and Optogenetics. NATURE. Researchers have now developed a device that can
deliver both light and fluids in vivo, enabling simultaneous optogenetic activation and
pharmacological inhibition of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of mice, causing a
modulation of place preference behavior in freely moving animals. The device is wirelessly
controlled by an infrared sensor that enables light delivery or a heating element that triggers fluid
pumping via heat-sensitive expandable microspheres. (August 28, 2015)
http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v12/n9/full/nmeth.3562.html
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BNLC BlurbOctober 2015

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