Our Aging Brains

Decision-making, Fraud, and Undue Influence
Couldn’t join us? Check out the conversation online! #OurAgingBrains @PetrieFlom @mghclbb
Check out some of the panelists’ slide presentations below!
With over 70 million Baby Boomers retiring, elder financial exploitation has been labeled the “Crime of the 21st Century.” In this half-day event, we explored the neuroscience, psychology, and legal doctrine of financial decision-making in older adults. How does the aging brain make financial decisions, and when is it uniquely susceptible? How can courts best use science to improve their adjudication of disputes over “competency”, “capacity”, and “undue influence”? Is novel neuroimaging evidence of dementia ready for courtroom use? This conference brought together experts in medicine, science, and law to explore these important questions and chart a path forward for dementia and the law.
Part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.
Agenda
8:00 – 8:30am, Registration
8:30 – 8:45am, Introduction
8:45 – 9:30am, What is Dementia? Definitions, Diagnosis, and Treatment
9:30 – 9:45am, Decision-making, Fraud, and Undue influence—Illustrated through the Lens of the Brooke Astor Story
9:45 – 10:00am, Break
10:00 – 11:15am, Dementia and the Law: Challenges and Opportunities
11:15am – 12:10pm, Future Directions: The Aging Brain and Financial Decision-Making
12:15 – 12:30pm, A Path Forward
Learn More
Slide Presentations
Additional Information
Part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.