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Sep 05, 2012

Dr. David Eagleman to Put "The Brain on Trial" at Cathedral

Dr. David Eagleman, neuroscientist and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, puts “The Brain on Trial” on Saturday, September 22, 9:00 am to noon, at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Avenue in downtown Houston. 

 

Eagleman, the best selling author of Incognito, The Secret Lives of the Brain questions the meaning of free will, the basis of both U.S. law and the Judeo-Christian tradition.  Emerging questions at the intersection of law and neuroscience challenge basic notions at the heart of our criminal justice system.  All brains are not created equal.  Is mass incarceration the most fruitful method to deal with juveniles, the mentally ill and the drug-addicted?  Can new technologies such as real-time brain imaging be used to create novel methods of rehabilitation?  By showing that brain networks that do not consciously control conduct actually drive most behaviors, Eagleman tries to demonstrate why the legal system will eventually be forced to shift its emphasis from blameworthiness to a forward-thinking analysis of future behavior.  

 

Following Eagleman’s talk, a panel that includes: the Honorable Judge Jan Krocker of the 184th Criminal Court, and head of the Harris County Felony Mental Health Court; the Rev. George Bement, LCSW, a clinical social worker at the Cathedral Clinic at the Beacon; and Dr. Ed Poa, a forensic psychiatrist at the VA Hospital and assistant professor at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine will discuss the implications of modern neuroscience findings. Eagleman will also sign his book, which will be sold on site.  Admission is free, but prior registration is required.  Call 713.222.2593 to sign-up or register online at:  http://www.christchurchcathedral.org/event/the-brain-on-trial/.