James Fallon was a good psychopath. A renowned neurologist at the University of California, he carried out numerous studies on the criminal brain. Researcher, professor, regular at TED talks, he helped profile criminals in television series and it is rumored that he advised the CIA. The discovery that catapulted him to international fame was, as is often the case, the result of chance. We can discover a psychopath through a scanner, and Not all psychopaths are bad. A hope in terms of reintegration, therapy and crime prevention, which could revolutionize the penal code.
James Fallon was the man who I was looking for psychopaths and he found himself. During one of his studiesset out to look for patterns in the brains of several convicted psychopathic murderers. For this he used a control group and asked his relatives to undergo analysis. When he looked at the results he realized two key things. The first confirmed the theory that psychopaths have a distinct cerberus to “ours”. The second is that he himself was one of them.
The psychopath’s brain can be seen, photographed and distinguished
Neuroimaging techniques are capable of revealing the morphological variations of the psychopathic brain. The most common are tomography and MRIs. That is to say: the psychopath’s brain can be seen, photographed and distinguished. Already in the 90s the psychologist and criminologist Adrian Raine had mapped the heads of known murderers. Fallon discovered that all the criminals analyzed reflected the same anomaliesand his own head presented those identical variations.
In fact, Fallon wasn’t particularly empathetic. He had a somewhat risky behavior, he was not capable of feel guilty or regret, and he could become a very cold guy. The distinction between those murderers was that, instead of dedicating themselves to killing, he had been able to channel his predispositions into something more peaceful, the academic world.
Affected areas in the psychopathic brain
Neuroscience tells us that the psychopathic brain is different, and we can see it through a scanner.
The prefrontal cortex It is the fundamental region in decision making, impulse control and behavioral regulation. In psychopathic individuals, a notable reduction in activity and volume has been observed. These variations can lead to impulsive behaviors, personality disorders, risky behavior, and even the inability to learn from mistakes.
The amygdala It is a key structure for processing emotions such as fear or sadness. empathic capacity. Less activity would explain the lack of emotional response or insensitivity towards others. Anger, pleasure, danger or anxiety may become distorted.
The corpus callosum connects the right hemisphere with the left. An anomaly would generate an affective deficit, which in turn can explain cold actions and calculated.
The empathic capacity, first differentiating feature of all psychopaths, is found in a large part of these aforementioned regions. But beyond the anecdotal, Fallon’s discovery demonstrates that even a biological predisposition Antisocial behavior does not necessarily imply violence or crime. To end up being a murderer, more conditions are activated, from the experienceseducation or socialization.
The fact that certain individuals are born with a different brain, partly capable of do evilhas become a topic of debate at a philosophical, sociological and even legal level. Also certain injuriesthroughout life, are capable of altering some of these areas. One of the most studied cases in Criminology is that of Phineas Gagea young man who, after an explosion, received a blow to the head and changed personality.
Advances in neuroscience have become a challenge for the right. In Spain, the use of neuroimaging techniques in criminal proceedings as exculpatory evidence has been applied for nearly 10 years, although without much acceptance. In other countries, like the US, they do have greater acceptance. How far we stop being free by our morphology or chemistry?
Recent studies seem to indicate that there are increasingly scientific explanations to violent behavior. In the vast majority of cases does not serve as a justificationbut it is useful in terms of prevention or therapy. He neuroright It continues to be forged in this area as well. Science and psychology are an aid in shaping a right justice. James Fallon died on this day, November 20, 2023, and his legacy will endure over time. It is the perfect example of freedom: Although we may be programmed, we are free to choose where we go.