Archived Content
The National Institute of Mental Health archives materials that are over 4 years old and no longer being updated. The content on this page is provided for historical reference purposes only and may not reflect current knowledge or information.
Jay Giedd on PBS Documentary “Brains on Trial”
• Science Update
A convenience store robbery goes horribly wrong: A teenager high on cocaine stands trial for attempted murder.
Using this fictional crime, a two-episode PBS program titled “Brains on Trial” explores the brains of the key courtroom players—defendant, witnesses, jurors, and judge. Is a witness lying or telling the truth? How can two people see the same event and yet remember it so differently? These and other questions are what neuroscience currently is being asked to do using brain scans.
Join host Alan Alda as he visits and conducts brain scan experiments with neuroscientists, such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s Jay Giedd, M.D., in the quest to answer how brain research can influence and reform the criminal justice system. Dr. Giedd is chief of the Unit on Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch at NIMH.