Chilling discovery exposes tiny differences between psychopaths and ordinary people

Scientists have discovered what really separates a cold-blooded psychopath from the average person. A team from the University of Pennsylvania has uncovered stark differences in brain structure that may explain why psychopaths think, feel, and behave in profoundly disturbing ways. Using MRI scans, researchers compared the brains of 39 adult men with high psychopathy scores to those of a control group, and what they found was unsettling. In psychopaths, researchers found shrunken areas in the basal ganglia, which controls movement and learning, the thalamus, the body's sensory relay station, and the cerebellum, which helps coordinate motor function. But the most striking changes were found in the orbitofrontal cortex and insular regions, areas that govern emotional regulation, impulse control, and social behavior.