News

It was reported in the Bariatric Times that : "A 32-year-old man, four months out from gastric bypass surgery, was issued a citation for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol shortly after leaving his brother�s wedding reception. According to the patient, he had only consumed one glass of champagne, although his blood alcohol content was above the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle (i.e., 0.08%). A female patient, 50 years of age and one year post-gastric bypass, hit and killed a pedestrian with her automobile after having less than two glasses of wine. When police arrived, she was staggering and slurring her words and was taken into custody. Two hours later, she was still unable to maintain her balance or to speak clearly, causing officials to suspect that she had drunk a bottle or two of wine instead of two glasses.
Were these patients telling the truth about the amount of alcohol they had consumed, or did bariatric surgery affect the way their bodies absorb or metabolize alcohol? In order to answer these questions, we queried our gastric bypass population to identify changes in their response to alcohol since surgery. Nearly all patients surveyed (90%) claimed that they were more sensitive to alcohol postoperatively versus preoperatively. Most patients reported that they could feel the effects of alcohol after taking only a few sips of their drink. More than 25 percent of patients said that they had, on occasion, lost muscular coordination after having only one to two drinks, and several of these patients claimed that they were unable to regain control of their balance and coordination for up to two hours. Nearly five percent of the patients who completed the survey said that they have received a DUI and that the incidence had occurred in the early postoperative months and after having only one alcoholic beverage".
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Report by US News on the forensic issues related to sleep disorders. See link below for the full article.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is linked to neurocognitive deficits in which the sufferer may experience difficulties with learning, judgement, planning and memory. In addition a number of associated problems have been identified, including: psychiatric disorders, school problems, propensity for criminal behaviour, substance abuse, and inappropriate sexual behaviours. For further information, please click on the file "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals," produced by the British Medical Association Board of Science (June 2007).

Michael Waldham, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University: his abstract and paper appears below:
ABSTRACT
Autism is currently estimated to affect approximately one in every 166 children, yet the cause or causes of the condition are not well understood. One of the current theories concerning the condition is that among a set of children vulnerable to developing the condition because of their underlying genetics, the condition manifests itself when such a child is exposed to a (currently unknown) environmental trigger. In this paper we empirically investigate the hypothesis that early childhood television viewing serves as such a trigger. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, we first establish that the amount of television a young child watches is positively related to the amount of precipitation in the child’s community. This suggests that, if television is a trigger for autism, then autism should be more prevalent in communities that receive substantial precipitation. We then look at county-level autism data for three states – California, Oregon, and Washington – characterized by high precipitation variability. Employing a variety of tests, we show that in each of the three states (and across all three states when pooled) there is substantial evidence that county autism rates are indeed positively related to county-wide levels of precipitation. In our final set of tests we use California and Pennsylvania data on children born between 1972 and 1989 to show, again consistent with the television as trigger hypothesis, that county autism rates are also positively related to the percentage of households that subscribe to cable television. Our precipitation tests indicate that just under forty percent of autism diagnoses in the three states studied is the result of television watching due to precipitation, while our cable tests indicate that approximately seventeen percent of the growth in autism in California and Pennsylvania during the 1970s and 1980s is due to the growth of cable television. These findings are consistent with early childhood television viewing being an important trigger for autism. We also discuss further tests that can be conducted to explore the hypothesis more directly.

Dr Ashcroft comments on the rehabilitation of serial homicide offenders for BBC News Online.

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The Guardian Newspaper reported: "A walk-in advice centre for stalkers opened in the German capital yesterday, offering help to those who wish to stop harassing their victims."

It was reported in the Times Newspaper on 25th January by John Harlow and Sara Hashash

"THE truth will out. A new lie detector test shows that it takes on average 30% longer to tell a fib than to be honest.

The discovery, following computer-based trials in Britain, will offer hope to law enforcement agencies struggling to keep pace with suspects who are getting better at lying.

The new device may also provide a more reliable alternative to conventional polygraphs, which critics believe implicate too many innocent people.

Aiden Gregg, a psychologist at Southampton University who developed the timed antagonistic response alethiometer (Tara), found that in 85% of cases interviewees were slower at faking answers than when telling the truth. Gregg believes that lying takes longer because it involves more complex cognitive activity."

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Stanford Law Prof. Hank Greely discusses Law and Neuroscience on LB Network.

In addition, further information on this subject courtesy of Ken Strutin, writing in the LLRX.com, has produced a review article which is introduced as follows: "Rapid advancements in forensic neuroscience are having an impact on criminal justice. The use of neuroimaging has emerged from medical analysis identifying abnormalities and dysfunctions to delving into lie detection and decision making. The courts are facing evidence about what the brain's form and function can reveal about human behavior and knowledge."

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CNET News highlighted the latest neuroscience research: "How often have you wondered what your spouse is really thinking? Or your boss? Or the guy sitting across from you on the bus? We all take as a given that we'll never really know for sure. The content of our thoughts is our own--private, secret, and unknowable by anyone else. Until now, that is."

"The average person lies 3 times per 10 minutes of conversation" - Samuel Baum, show creator and executive director.

Fox Broadcasting will premiere on January 21st 2009 their new drama series starring Tim Roth as Dr Cal Lightman who can detect the deception or truth by analysing a person's face, voice and body. This character is based upon the pioneering work of Dr Paul Ekman and will no doubt be very entertaining and thought provoking. The writers have drawn heavily on established detection of deception research. Dr Ekman's research can be found at: http://www.paulekman.com.

For more details please click on the link to the official website: