This is your brain. Now this is your brain on drugs. How do illicit drugs change the reward pathway in your brain? What are the different neurotransmitters involved, and what are the molecular and biochemical explanations for addiction? Are these changes to your neural network reversible? What about over-the-counter drugs, such as Advil or Tylenol? This course gives an overview of the influence of drugs on your brain and behavior, challenging what you thought you knew about psychoactive drugs.

Recent advances in brain-imaging technology spurred speculations about the existence of the “murder gene” and its implications for human free will. Are certain people born with genetic predispositions to violence, illegality and rebellion? How do these biological factors change how they interact with their childhood environment? All of these topics are discussed under the umbrella of neurocriminology, or the study of the neural basis of crime. There is a growing body of evidence that shows genetic and environmental factors can come together to nurture a “criminal brain” with violent tendencies. This class will be an inquiry into these questions, delving into the biological roots of crime and the inevitable ethical questions of accountability and punishment that follow.