117, 134174. Development as a dynamic system. The consensus view of modern neuroscience is that the brain accomplishes its tasks by dynamically recruiting networks of interconnected brain modules that combine to process and compute the required solution, a model called distributed processing.19 This model is analogous to the design of computer circuit boards, which contain interconnected specialized chips that combine dynamically in different configurations, depending on the task at hand. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12021, Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H. L., et al. Neuroscience and Psychology offer a powerful insight as to what is happening in our brains and those of others. (2014). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth and public safety. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). (2011). J. Neurosci. Some of the strengths of this theory include the focus on both the positive nature of humankind and the free will associated with change. We do not capture any email address. 46, 287292. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5310-13.2014, Keywords: childhood poverty, social inequality, brain plasticity, interventions, policy making, Citation: Lipina SJ and Segretin MS (2015) Strengths and weakness of neuroscientific investigations of childhood poverty: future directions. Early parental care is important for hippocampal maturation: evidence from brain morphology in humans. Presciently, in 2006 Morse identified signs of a cognitive pathology he labeled brain overclaim syndrome (BOS). All of this should help contribute with the identification and the better comprehension of the mechanisms of mediation of early adversity on brain development. After all, it is generally accepted, based on a vast amount of clinical evidence and basic research, that the frontal lobes play an important role in cognitive control and decision-making,20 and that individuals with defects in frontal lobe areas such as orbitofrontal cortex, the area of frontal cortex adjacent to the orbits, exhibit impaired impulse control and impaired decision-making, among other findings.21, However, let us consider a famous example from the neurolaw literature: the case of Herbert Weinstein.22 This case is considered a landmark criminal proceeding in neurolaw, as it is the first known attempt in New York to use neuroimaging to argue for insanity.23 Mr. Weinstein, an advertising executive in his mid-60s with no prior psychiatric or criminal history at the time of the incident, was accused of, and later confessed to, killing his wife by throwing her out the window of their 12th-story apartment after a heated argument.24 A structural MRI was obtained after the act, which revealed a large, left-side arachnoid cyst. Nat. Psychol. Psychobiol. doi: 10.1080/17450128.2010.521598, Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., and Heim, C. (2009). doi: 10.1073/pnas.1304437110, Noble, K. G., Houston, S. M., Kan, E., and Sowell, E. R. (2012). For example, people who go to funerals wear black, but it would be an error of logic to assume that all people who wear black go to funerals. In addition, based on overactivity and the amygdala's known role as the brain's fear center, the defendant likely had overwhelming levels of fear at the time of an alleged offense, thus arguing for diminished culpability. This means that the understanding of the role of the epigenome on the behavioral modifications driven by early experiences could contribute to our understanding of the relationship between childhood poverty and brain development. The study of how adverse environmental conditions (e.g., socioeconomic status (SES) or poverty) influence brain organization and reorganization during development includes different approaches. For instance, recently, the topic of stress regulation has been included in the study of poverty and cognitive development through different perspectives, such as vulnerability and environmental susceptibility (Ellis and Boyce, 2011; Hackman et al., 2012; Sheridan et al., 2013), the impact of poverty on executive functions (Blair et al., 2011), and even child development policy (Shonkoff and Bales, 2011). Med. Of course, analysis of thoughts and behaviors is the cornerstone of good forensic psychiatric work, and for this reason we do not have to fear that neuroscience is going to put us out of a job anytime soon.52, I have spent much of this editorial sketching out neuroscience's evidentiary limitations, but the envelope is pushed with each advance.