eper into the realm of disorders, more than 62% of acquittees were diagnosed with psychotic disorders, 7% with a major affective disorder, 10% were found to have a schizoaffective disorder, 4% were suffering from delusional disorder, 7% had organic disorder, and 10% had a primary diagnosis of personality disorder” (Lymburner & Roesch). One or more disorders may be present within an individual.

The insanity defense is similar to the diminished capacity defense in ways that both of these defenses look into the mental capacity of the defendant. The important difference between these two however, is that “pleading with the “reason of insanity” is a full defense to a crime while diminished capacity is pleading to a lesser crime” (Cornell Law).

Big Five Personality Traits in the Brain:

The Big Five represents the basic structure of all personality traits based upon openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Through many of the categories of neurobiological methods, researchers are able to explore details of the structure and function of the brain while examining how personality is rooted deeply inside. A few of the neurological categories that has a representative correlation with personality and can be seen through brain scans are neuroimaging techniques such as MRI and fMRI, Electrophysiological techniques (EEG), surface-based morphology analysis (SBM) and positron emission tomography (PET).

Studies of neuroimaging provide supporting evidence that demonstrates the correlation between personality traits and brain structures (Li et al.). “One study has shown that agreeableness is associated with several gray matter regions, such as the superior temporal sulcus and posterior cingulate cortex, which are related to social information processing” (Li et al.). Evidence can show different tra