WIKIMEDIA, GEOFF B HALLPrisoners with relatively low activity in a particular brain region while performing a computer-based decision-making task are more likely to be arrested again on release than those with higher activity in that brain region during the task, according to a study published this week (March 25) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A team of neuroscientists led by Eyal Aharoni at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of 96 soon-to-be-released male prisoners. The scans focussed on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an area of the brain associated with decision-making and motor control, as the prisoners completed challenges on a computer that required them to inhibit impulsive reactions as they made quick-fire decisions.

The researchers then monitored the fate of the released prisoners over the next 4 years, and found that subjects...