Psychopaths and Skinny Brain

Unusual Brain Thinness

In the study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, a team of German researchers used modern brain scanning technology to examine the brain structure of 34 volunteers. Half of these volunteers had diagnosed cases of narcissistic personality disorder, while the other half did not. The part of the brain examined during the study was the cerebral cortex, the outer brain layer that regulates most of the functions that we associate with core human characteristics such as self-awareness, self-determination and self-control. One particular part of the cerebral cortex acts as the seat for empathy, the common term for the human ability to identify with others on both emotional and logical levels.
After reviewing the results of their examination, the authors of the study concluded that, when compared to people unaffected by NPD, people with the disorder have unusual cerebral cortex thinness in the region responsible for empathy production. read more