Brain Scans Predict Criminals' Likelihood of Rearrest

It's reminiscent of the film Minority Report, but it's true: A simple brain test performed on prisoners can predict their likelihood of committing another crime. Various psychological and biological factors are already used to judge, for instance, whether an arrested individual is granted bail or the nature of their sentence, if convicted. Age and sex are taken into account, as are behavioral qualities such as impulsivity and drug use. At the moment, however, these character traits are assessed by personality tests. Neuroscientists have long suspected that measuring the brain signal associated with these traits would increase the tests' reliability. To test this theory, researchers studied a group of 96 male prisoners in New Mexico just before their release. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the team scanned the prisoners' brains while they completed a computer task measuring impulsivity: They had to quickly and accurately respond when the letter X flashed ...