Neurocriminologia e suas contribuições para o direito penal: implicações, avanços e desafios

Abstract

Neurocriminology has emerged as a transformative field in Criminal Law, challenging centuries-old paradigms by integrating neuroscientific discoveries into the analysis of imputability and criminal responsibility. This study investigates how brain dysfunctions, such as lesions in the prefrontal cortex, psychiatric disorders or neurochemical imbalances, influence the capacity for self-determination, questioning the classical notion of free will as the exclusive basis for guilt. Through a systematic review of the literature and analysis of emblematic cases (such as that of Phineas Gag), it is demonstrated that technological advances, functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography and behavioral genetics, allow the identification of neurological patterns associated with antisocial behavior, offering support for individualizing sentences and proposing therapeutic interventions. In addition to highlighting practical contributions, such as the mitigation of sentences for adolescents (whose developing brains affect inhibitory control) or the replacement of incarceration with treatments in cases of proven disorders, the work addresses the ethical challenges of this integration. The risk of biological reductionism, which could trivialize moral responsibility, and the need to balance scientific evidence with legal guarantees, such as the presumption of innocence and human dignity, are discussed. The conclusion is that neurocriminology, although it revolutionizes criminal dogma by proposing more precise criteria for assessing imputability, requires strict regulation to avoid distortions. Its potential lies in the humanization of justice, combining punishment proportional to the agent's cognitive capacity with preventive strategies based on neuropsychological diagnoses, without neglecting the founding principles of the Democratic State of Law.