By Katie Drummond
The Verge - October 31, 2013
James Fallon is a happily
married father of three, an award-winning neuroscientist at the
University of California, Irvine, the founder of several successful
biotech companies, and a scientific advisor to the US Department of
Defense. He is also a psychopath.
In 2005, after decades of
studying the brain scans of psychopathic killers, Fallon made a
startling discovery when examining his own PET scan as part of a
separate research project. His brain, Fallon discovered, looked
precisely like those of the cold-blooded murderers he’d spent the last
20 years scrutinizing. And after analyzing his DNA, Fallon later
uncovered that his genetic profile contained several genes strongly
linked to violent, psychopathic behaviors.
After Fallon revealed the
findings in a 2009 TED Talk, mainstream media latched on: he was
profiled on NPR, graced the front page of the Wall Street Journal,
and even inspired an episode of the TV series Criminal Minds. Now,
however, Fallon is telling his own version of the story. In a new book, The Psychopath Inside
(Penguin Group), Fallon takes a hard scientific look at our evolving
understanding of psychopathy — through the lens of his own biology and
behaviors. And the latter, as he admits, haven’t exactly been laudable:
Fallon isn’t a murderer, but he writes candidly of hard partying,
perpetual lying, and reckless, dangerous impulsivity — not to mention
the admission that he’s never truly made an empathetic connection (even
with his wife). So how does an expert in psychopathy come to terms with
the disturbing symptoms of his own illness? We talked to Fallon to find
out.
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