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Eyewitness testimony tends to be the ultimate standard in a criminal case, but recent developments in research into how the brain works prove otherwise, said Dr. Tracy Gunter in a news story on WTTV Channel 4 that was published February 19.

Research shows that memories stored in the human brain evolve and change over time, Dr. Gunter said, and the phenomenon happens even when a witness is convinced that their memory of an event has not changed.

Dr. Gunter is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry, Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine.  She is also an adjunct professor at IU McKinney School of Law where she teaches “Neuroscience and the Law.”

An expert in Forensic Psychiatry, Dr. Gunter a frequent national and international speaker in mental health and law. Her interest in problem solving courts resulted in interdisciplinary collaborations with professors of social work, criminal justice, and law working on a grant examining mental health courts in Missouri. As a clinician, Dr. Gunter has been named in “Best Doctors in America” for several years. She has consulted on over 1,500 cases in criminal and civil litigation, including probate and employment matters.