Posted on 10/17/2005 12:52:15 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Brain abnormalities linked to pathological lying Reuters
Oct 17, 2005 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pathological liars may have structural abnormalities in their brains, a new study suggests.
Dr. Adrian Raine and Yaling Yang of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues found that individuals who habitually lied and cheated had less gray matter and more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than normal people. They report their findings in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Past studies have found that the prefrontal cortex shows heightened activity when normal people lie, and it is believed to be involved in both learning moral behavior and feeling remorse.
Because gray matter consists of brain cells, while white matter forms the "wiring" or connections between these cells, pathological liars may have more capacity to lie and fewer moral restraints, the authors suggest.
"They've got the equipment to lie, and they don't have the disinhibition that the rest of us have in telling the big whoppers," Raine said in a press release accompanying the study.
The researchers used a series of psychological tests and interviews in a group of volunteers to identify 12 pathological liars, 16 people with antisocial personality disorder but no history of lying, and 21 normal people. They then examined the brains of all study participants using magnetic resonance imaging.
Liars had 26 percent more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than people with antisocial personality disorder, and 22 percent more than normal people. But they had 14 percent less gray matter than normal individuals.
Interestingly, the researchers note, autistic people — who are known to have difficulty lying — show a shift in gray-to-white matter ratio opposite to that seen among liars in the current study.
"Although autism is a complex condition and cannot be taken as a model for lying, these results on autistic children, combined with the prior fMRI findings on lying in normal controls, converge with current findings on adult liars suggesting that the prefrontal cortex is centrally involved in the capacity to lie," the authors write.
And a bigger picture of Hillary than of Bill. She lies even when there's no need to, when there's nothing to be gained, and her lie can easily be exposed.
"I was certain there would be a picture of Clinton accompanying this article."
BOTH Clintons!
I wonder though, will a lifetime of behaving a certain way affect the development and physical appearance of the brain.
Meaning, do our thoughts or patterns manifest themselves in the brain just as much as the brain creates those thoughts or patterns of conduct?
I have a problem with this study. What about "possibility thinking?" What about those creative people who invent things and start businesses? Is Bill Gates white or gray? Wildy creative Richard Branson who started Virgin Airlines among other companies?
I wonder where successful writers of fiction fall on the white/gray scale. Are they different from nonfiction writers? Would they be considered "abnormal" by unimaginative psychiatrists? What color is a psychiatrist's brain?
Yes.
So it's not free will then. That's a relief.
Is that extra matter in your prefrontal cortex or are you just saying that you're happy to see me?
Interesting. And all creative people will be sent to re-education camps to be cured of their abnormality when the shrinkocracy gains control.
Posted on 11/29/2004 3:25:33 PM CST by Lazamataz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brain scans show that the brains of people who are lying look very different from those of people who are telling the truth, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
The study, using functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI, not only sheds light on what goes on when people lie but may also provide new technology for lie-detecting, the researchers said.
"There may be unique areas in the brain involved in deception that can be measured with fMRI," said Dr. Scott Faro, director of the Functional Brain Imaging Center at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
"There may be unique areas in the brain involved in truth-telling," Faro added at a news conference.
Faro and colleagues tested 10 volunteers. Six of them were asked to shoot a toy gun and then lie and say they didn't do it. Three others who watched told the truth about what happened. One volunteer dropped out of the study.
While giving their "testimony," the volunteers were hooked up both to a conventional polygraph and also had their brain activity imaged using fMRI, which used a strong magnet to provide a real-time picture of brain activity.
There were clear differences between the liars and the truth-tellers, Faro's team told a meeting in Chicago of the Radiological Society of North America.
"We found a total of seven areas of activation in the deception (group)," he said. "We found four areas of activity in the truth-telling arm."
Overall, it seemed to take more brain effort to tell the lie than to tell the truth, Faro found.
Lying caused activity in the frontal part of the brain --- the medial inferior and pre-central areas, as well as the hippocampus and middle temporal regions and the limbic areas. Some of these are involved in emotional responses, Faro said.
During a truthful response, the fMRI showed activation of parts of the brain's frontal lobe, temporal lobe and cingulate gyrus.
Faro said the study was small and limited. Volunteers were not asked to try especially hard to deceive the equipment, he said -- noting that it has been documented that some people can fool a polygraph using various techniques.
Using fMRI as a lie detector is expensive, but it may be worthwhile in some cases -- such as trying to question a terrorism suspect, or in a high-profile corporate crime case, Faro said.
Nonsense.
One has to wonder whether use of the brain in forming a lie (free will) helps develop this physical change? This study does not seem to address that -- merely comments on teh differences.
HMMM...
I'm asking the same questions. Having a vivid and creative imagination requires the same type of brain activity. Character dictates how we use that energy, and I don't think any "scientific study" can measure that.
What about an entire culture that believes it is OK to lie to the infidel, and that accepts any falsehoods told to them about the infidel?
Are they all brain damaged?
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