Do Brain Lesions Make Criminals?

Guest: Michael Fox, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Co-Director, Deep Brain Stimulation Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center In 1966, a lone gunman named Charles Whitman perpetrated what’s often considered the first public mass shooting in modern America. He climbed a 300-foot tower at the University of Texas and shot 36 people, killing 14 of them before he was fatally shot by police. An autopsy found a tumor in Whitman’s brain, which some scientists believe may have contributed to his murderous behavior. We know that brain injuries and lesions can change someone’s personality, but can it make someone a violent criminal?