"You see that? I'm 100 percent. I have the pattern, the risky pattern. In a sense, I'm a born killer." An ironic statement, coming from a neuroscientist who studies the brains of killers. After discovering his own lineage to be wrought with murderers, Jim Fallon peered into his own brain and found that, genetically speaking, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He found an empty area in his orbital cortex, the part of the brain involved with ethical behavior. But the gentle scholar displays little tendencies towards violence. So what distinguishes Fallon from a psychopath? A nurturing childhood, he believes. While brain chemistry and genes play their part, his research indicates that a caring environment can make all the difference.
