Judges and juries often have to gauge a defendant’s state of mind at the time he or she committed a crime. They have to decide whether a defendant committed a crime “knowingly” or “recklessly.” In some cases, the difference could be a matter of life or death.
Now a new study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has turned to the brain to find a basis for this distinction. The researchers were able to find distinct brain activity patterns that revealed whether participants knew they were committing a (virtual) crime or were recklessly taking a risk.
via Mental Floss
