Today's soundtrack is Caligula's Horse: In Contact.
This blog is post marks a milestone; as of today, I've been blogging for one month! I've really been enjoying this part of my day. It's fun to have a set part of my day where I can learn something new; also, taking notes while studying increases comprehension increases comprehension, the same applies here.
Today I'm reading chapter three of Dean Haycock's Murderous Minds, "What Does Brain Imaging See?"
Haycock says that to the naked eye, most brains look the same; however, with fMRIs, scientists can see differences in the brains of psychopaths in comparison to neurotypical people. FMRIs can't see emotions or traits, so scientists rely on fMRIs in conjunction with psychological evaluations to get a full picture of a person's traits.
Using fMRIs, researchers found that people with psychopathy had less grey matter in the temporal pole in their temporal lobe, an area of the brain involved with "processing and recognizing emotions" (60), which researchers believe underlies the "'low arousal, poor fear conditioning, lack of conscience, and decision-making deficits' that characterize psychopathic behaviour" (60). Other areas of the brain thought to be connected to moral decison-making were also found to be thinner or smaller, leading researchers to assert that psychopathy is a "neurobiological condition" (61).
