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      A Review of the Role of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Criminal Court

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          Abstract

          Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is believed to be a degenerative brain disease characterized by repetitive brain trauma resulting in a specific pattern of neuropathological changes, which some have linked to functional disturbance and aggression. The diagnosis has gained greater public attention after these same neuropathological changes were discovered in multiple deceased National Football League (NFL) players, many of whom had exhibited signs of aggression, impulsivity, and poor executive functioning, according to a widely publicized study. When an NFL player convicted of murder was found to have the neuropathological changes associated with CTE following his suicide, the New York Times editorial section asked whether CTE was a defense for murder. This idea raises an interesting legal and philosophical question about whether an individual’s criminal actions can be determined by something outside their control, such as past head trauma. To begin to attempt an answer, this article reviews what is currently known about the neurobiology of traumatic brain injury, CTE, and morality. By looking at how U.S. criminal law courts have handled cases of dementia and traumatic brain injury in the past, we can better understand how to consider this postmortem diagnosis in its forensic context.

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          Author and article information

          Contributors
          Role: Research Psychiatrist, Assistant Professor
          Role: Psychiatrist, Adjunct Faculty
          Role: Lecturer in Law
          Role: Associate Professor
          Journal
          9708963
          20600
          J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
          J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
          The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
          1093-6793
          1943-3662
          24 January 2021
          24 November 2020
          March 2021
          20 March 2021
          : 49
          : 1
          : 60-65
          Affiliations
          Mental Health Service Line, Edward J. Hines VA Hospital, Hines, IL; Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
          National Telemental Health Hub, Continental Region, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Salt Lake City, UT; Forensic Psychiatry Division, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
          Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
          Forensic Psychiatry Division, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Nationally Certified Examiner for Compensation and Pension, Jesse Brown VA Hospital, Chicago, IL.
          Author notes
          Address correspondence to: Alexandra Aaronson MD, Edward J Hines VA Hospital, Research Service, P.O. Box 5000 MC 151H, Hines IL 60141. alexandra.aaronson@ 123456va.gov .
          Article
          PMC7979483 PMC7979483 7979483 vapa1663300
          10.29158/JAAPL.200054-20
          7979483
          33234540
          6d44ad24-31ae-4db8-9157-d03e1948d3d8
          History
          Categories
          Article

          criminal law,football injuries,chronic traumatic encephalopathy,forensic psychiatry,brain injury

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