Unexplainable My brain made me do it
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Mar 9, 2026 
Josh May, a philosophy professor specializing in neuroethics and legal responsibility, joins to examine the landmark case that brought brain scans into court. He explores the ethics of using neuroimaging in legal settings. Conversations cover frontal lobe effects on behavior, how courts decide to admit scientific evidence, and the promises and limits of fMRI and AI for assessing responsibility.
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Weinstein Confession And The Cyst Discovery
- Herbert Weinstein confessed to strangling his wife and pushing her from their 12th-floor apartment, then tried to stage it as a suicide.
- His defense later discovered an orange-sized arachnoid cyst pressing on his frontal lobe via a PET scan after the arrest, which became central to his trial.
Frontal Lobe Impingement Can Alter Control
- The PET scan showed an arachnoid cyst pressing on Weinstein's left frontal lobe with diminished glucose metabolism nearby.
- Anthony Wagner explains such cysts can impinge on frontal tissue and in a small percentage of cases alter impulse control and context-appropriate behavior.
Use Fry And Daubert Hearings To Vet Neuroscience
- Courts use standards like Fry and Daubert to vet scientific evidence before jurors see it, treating judges as gatekeepers.
- The Weinstein case included a pretrial hearing where experts debated whether PET scans are generally accepted for proving dysfunction.
