Introduction to Neurolaw
An 8-Week Curriculum for High School Students
This curriculum was developed by Mind on Trial in 2026 as a free, structured introduction to neurolaw for high school students, school clubs, independent learners, and educators. Each week takes 45 to 60 minutes and follows the same format: read, discuss, apply the Neuro-Legal Case Analysis Framework. No prior experience in neuroscience or law is required. Curiosity is the only prerequisite.
Week 1: What Is Neurolaw?
Anchor reading: What Is Neurolaw and Why Should You Care?
Key concept: The three lenses of the NLCAF — forensic evidence, neuroscience, legal outcome
Week 2: The Adolescent Brain and the Law
Anchor reading: The Teenage Brain on Trial
Case: Roper v. Simmons (2005)
Key concept: Prefrontal cortex development, culpability, constitutional law
Week 3: Memory, Eyewitness Testimony, and the Limits of Certainty
Anchor reading: What Your Brain Remembers Is Not What Happened
Case: Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson (1984)
Key concept: Memory reconsolidation, misinformation effect, wrongful conviction
Week 4: False Confessions and the Interrogated Brain
Anchor reading: I Did Not Do It But I Said I Did
Case: The Central Park Five (1989)
Key concept: Stress response, decision-making under duress, the Reid Technique
Week 5: Risk Assessment, Algorithms, and Racial Bias
Anchor reading: The Algorithm on the Stand
Case: State v. Loomis (2013)
Key concept: Algorithmic bias, COMPAS, due process, recidivism prediction
Week 6: Mental Illness, the Insanity Defense, and What the Law Does With Both
Anchor reading: Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
Case: John Hinckley Jr. (1982)
Key concept: M'Naghten test, mens rea, psychiatric diagnosis and legal responsibility
Week 7: The Brain in Isolation — Solitary Confinement
Anchor reading: What Isolation Does to the Brain
Case: Ashker v. Governor of California (2015)
Key concept: Neurological effects of isolation, cruel and unusual punishment
Week 8: Neural Data, Neurotechnology, and the Future of Neurolaw
Anchor reading: This Week in Neurolaw — Your Brain Data Is Being Collected
Case: Neural data privacy bills in California
Key concept: Neurorights, neural data privacy, emerging technology and the law
Every week follows this format:
10 minutes: Read the anchor article together or assign it in advance
20 minutes: Overview of the case and the neuroscience concept
20 minutes: Discussion using the three questions
5 minutes: Apply the NLCAF — what does each lens say about this week's case?
This curriculum is free to use, share, and adapt. If you use it in your school or club, we would love to hear about it.
Email info@mindontrial.org.
Last updated: August 2026