Confessions of a Pro-Social Psychopath

Neuroscientist James Fallon is fascinated by the brains of murderers, especially in light of his own family history. His father’s side of the family was full of notorious murderers. So, he compared his family’s PET scans to those of known psychopathic killers:

“And I took a look at my own PET scan and saw something disturbing that I did not talk about,” he says.

What he didn’t want to reveal was that his orbital cortex looks inactive.

“If you look at the PET scan, I look just like one of those killers.” [NPR]

Watch the video of Fallon telling his story, “Confessions of a Pro-Social Psychopath” at the World Science Festival. It’s a well-told tale that raises fascinating questions about the influence of nature and nurture on personality.

[HT: Boing Boing]