Neuroscientific Approach to Emotion and Cognitive Control - Lega Judgement As a Stage -
Neuroscientific Approach to Emotion and Cognitive Control - Lega Judgement As a Stage -
Thursday, 10 July 2025: 15:45
Location: SJES022 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
Oral Presentation
Our presentation is to show how effective neuroscientific methods are in exploring the roles of emotions in our cognition and decision-making. Among neuroscientific techniques, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has significantly contributed to elucidating healthy human function due to its non-invasive nature. The exploration for the correspondence between human brain functions and brain regions is called ‘functional brain mapping’ and has been accepted widely as an important research paradigm for understanding human brain function. In past decades, understanding of human brain function has deepened not only through reports of active regions but also through their associations with behavioral or psychological indicators. In recent years, DCM (Dynamic Causal Modelling) analysis has revealed ‘effective connectivity (with direction)’ among brain regions, and it is hoped that DCM analysis will play an important role in understanding human brain function.
In this presentation, we will present the following fMRI study on legal decision-making.:
Our study involved legal experts and laypersons (participants) in an MRI scanner, who were asked to judge the sentences against two defendants, one is remorseful and the other is remorseless, in hypothetical joint murder cases. Through our study, we would like to question the possible contribution of functional brain imaging to the distinction between concepts such as ‘emotion,’ ‘affect,’ ‘sensitivity,’ ‘sensation’ and ‘feeling.’
“Effective connectivity and criminal sentencing decisions: dynamic causal models in laypersons and legal experts”, Takeshi Asamizuya, Hiroharu Saito, Ryosuke Higuchi, Go Naruse, Shozo Ota, Junko Kato, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 32, Issue 19, 1 October 2022, Pages 4304–4316, https://doi.org/10.
In this presentation, we will present the following fMRI study on legal decision-making.:
Our study involved legal experts and laypersons (participants) in an MRI scanner, who were asked to judge the sentences against two defendants, one is remorseful and the other is remorseless, in hypothetical joint murder cases. Through our study, we would like to question the possible contribution of functional brain imaging to the distinction between concepts such as ‘emotion,’ ‘affect,’ ‘sensitivity,’ ‘sensation’ and ‘feeling.’
“Effective connectivity and criminal sentencing decisions: dynamic causal models in laypersons and legal experts”, Takeshi Asamizuya, Hiroharu Saito, Ryosuke Higuchi, Go Naruse, Shozo Ota, Junko Kato, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 32, Issue 19, 1 October 2022, Pages 4304–4316, https://doi.org/10.