Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Psychopathy linked to specific structural abnormalities in the social brain
In the chapter INSIDE THE BRAIN in NOT A CHIMP I detail significant anatomical and cell differences between humans and chimps relating to parts of the brain responsible for social cognition: the so-called 'social brain'. Here, Nigel Blackwood, from King's College, London, reveals results from MRI studies of prisoners with the 'cold' or psychopathic form of anti-social personality disorder and shows structural abnormalities in parts of the prefrontal cortex and the temporal pole. he claims this is the first detailed study to relate psychopathy to deficits in the 'social brain' .http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-psychopathy-linked-specific-abnormalities-brain.html
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