Neuroscientist Discovers he's a Psychopath after Studying his own Brain Scans

For neuroscientist James Fallon, studying the scans of brains afflicted with mental disorders was a regular part of his job. The University of California, Irvine researcher regularly looked into the minds of murderers, depressive and schizophrenics by studying their PET images. Yet he found something out about himself that he wasn't really expecting-he is a psychopath.

"I've never killed anybody or raped anyone," Fallon said, according to Fox News. "So the first thing I thought was that maybe my hypothesis was wrong, and that these brain areas are not reflective of psychopathy or murderous behavior."

While flipping through brain scans of his family, Fallon notes that he found a scan that showed some different characteristics than normal one.

After further research, things seemed to fall into place. For instance, Fallon found out that he is related to seven alleged murderers, including Lizzie Borden.

NPR reports that one of Fallons's great-grandfathers, Thomas Cornell, was hanged over 300 years ago in the then-American colonies for the murder of his mother.

Genetic testing also proved that Fallon carried many high risk-alleles for behavioral problems, including aggression, violence and low empathy.

"I'm obnoxiously competitive. I won't let my grandchildren win games...and I do jerky things that piss people he off," he said, via the Smithsonian. "But while I'm aggressive...my aggression is sublimated. I'd rather beat someone in an argument than beat them up."

Fortunately, for Fallon, he believes that several environmental factors contributed to his normal life, and not genetics alone.

"I was loved, and that protected me," he said, according to the news organization.

Do you think environment or genetics primarily determine how our lives play out? Share in the comments below.