Neurological evidence is increasingly used in criminal cases to argue that a defendant is less responsible for their behaviour, is not competent to stand trial or should receive a reduced punishment for the crime. Unfortunately, neurologists are rarely involved in such cases despite having the expertise to help to inform these decisions in court. In this Perspective, we advocate for the development of ‘forensic neurology’, a subspecialty of neurology focused on using neurological clinical and scientific expertise to address legal questions for the criminal justice system. We review literature suggesting that the incidence of criminal behaviour is higher in people with certain neurological disorders than the general public and that undiagnosed neurological abnormalities are common in people who commit crimes. We discuss the need for forensic neurologists in criminal cases to provide an opinion on what neurological diagnoses are present, the resulting symptoms and ultimately whether the symptoms affect legal determinations such as criminal responsibility or competency.

神经学证据越来越多地用于刑事案件，以证明被告对其行为不负责任、没有能力接受审判或应该因犯罪而受到减轻处罚。不幸的是，神经科医生很少参与此类案件，尽管他们拥有专业知识来帮助在法庭上做出这些决定。在这个观点中，我们主张发展“法医神经病学”，这是神经病学的一个子专业，专注于利用神经临床和科学专业知识来解决刑事司法系统的法律问题。我们回顾的文献表明，患有某些神经系统疾病的人犯罪行为的发生率高于普通公众，并且未确诊的神经系统异常在犯罪者中很常见。我们讨论法医神经科医生在刑事案件中是否需要就存在哪些神经学诊断、由此产生的症状以及最终症状是否影响刑事责任或能力等法律决定提供意见。