Publication Date
5-2011
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Neuroscience is, without a doubt, one of the "hot" disciplines in contemporary science. The advances in neuroscience have come from a cycle of technological and conceptual developments that have led to new models not only of how we think but also of how thought translates into behavior. Neuroscience has spawned a number of interdisciplinary offspring-among them "neurolaw," the application of the insights of neuroscience to problems of law and vice versa. The Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law Symposium from which this volume of the Mercer Law Review has emerged is but one manifestation of a rapidly increasing interest in neurolaw.
As a prelude to diving into the discussions-and sometimes debates- that a neurolaw approach provokes in legal scholarship, a reader should have at least an introductory understanding of the brain and of the tools and models that make up the cognitive revolution. This Article is intended to provide just such an introduction. Those who wish to follow up with additional study have a flood of resources at their disposal. These range from popular works to short scholarly treatments' and on to more challenging, graduate-level compendiums. Undergraduate texts can serve as very useful entry-level guides, and there are many online resources as well. Most of the information set out in this Article can and should be sourced authoritatively to these and similar works rather than to this introductory Article.
Recommended Citation
Goodenough, Oliver R. and Tucker, Micaela
(2011)
"Neuroscience Basics for Lawyers,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 62:
No.
3, Article 9.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol62/iss3/9