ABSTRACT
Brain imaging began during in the early 1970s with the development of computed axial tomography (CT). The usefulness of the technology moved it quickly from the laboratory to the bedside, and CT is now routine in the diagnosis and treatment of many disorders of the central nervous system. The appeal of a literal glimpse of the brain extended beyond medicine however, and soon after its clinical application CT was introduced to the courtroom. In possibly the most famous case wherein brain imaging played a role, the Hinckley insanity trial of 1982 (U.S. v. Hinckley 1982), a psychiatrist argued that Mr. Hinckley’s enlarged ventricles on CT supported a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
