The Weaver Distinguished Lecture series provides our community with foundational information at the intersection of law and neuroscience. The Weaver Family Program in Law, Brain Sciences, and Behavior sponsors interdisciplinary faculty research and projects that explore law and human behavior across a broad spectrum of life science and social science fields. Each year, the Weaver Distinguished Lecture Series organizes and hosts symposia and speakers featuring leading researchers working in law, brain sciences, and human behavior.
Judith Edersheim, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and founding co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, will deliver the 2026 Distinguished Lecture in a presentation titled: "Defeating Brain Myths in the Courtroom: From Nonsense to Neuroscience."
Professor Francis Shen, an expert in law and neuroscience of the University of Minnesota, presented the 2025 Distinguished Weaver lecture titled "Upgrading Justice: How Neuroscience can Revolutionize the Criminal Law." Shen’s talk revolved around the idea that although neuroscience has not yet revolutionized the criminal justice system, it is poised to do so in the future. He outlined two pillars that justify the integration of neuroscience into legal systems.
Nationally renowned neuroscientist BJ Casey, The Christina L. Williams Professor of Neuroscience at Barnard College - Columbia University, delivered the second annual Weaver Distinguished Lecture in Law, Brain Sciences, and Behavior. Casey’s lecture titled “Explorations in Law and Neuroscience: The Adolescent Brain," highlighted unique vulnerabilities along with tremendous opportunities for growth and change in adolescents, clarify the current state of the science on typical behavioral and brain development during adolescence; and demonstrate that traits are dynamic and show continued change beyond adolescence.
The inaugural lecture featured Anthony Wagner, the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences at Stanford University, and deputy director of the Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. The lecture was titled "Explorations in Law and Neuroscience: Memory States in the Brain." Wagner’s talk centered on the use of functional MRI brain scans to test true and false memories. After detailing his research methodology, he discussed the implications of his findings for criminal convictions based primarily on eyewitness testimony.