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The Psychopath Inside: a neuroscientist’s personal journal into the dark side of the brain, which is written by James H. Fallon, and the book was released by Portfolio Penguin in October 2013. James H. Fallon is an American neuroscientist, and he has been studying brain function, structure and neuroscience for 35 years. James Fallon was named by Wall Street Journal as the best neuroscientist in a decade. For years, James Fallon was obsessed with studying the brain structure of psychopaths, then he found that the same mutations in the limbic cortex of the psychopaths. The Book starts with an unexpected discovery by James Fallon, in 2005, in a study of brain scans of groups of normal and abnormal people, he surprisingly found that his own brain structure was exactly the same as that of psychopathic criminals. James used to believe that he had discovered the key to cracking the psychological abnormalities. However, this unexpected finding is making him having a doubt, and does this prove that he is also a pervert or psychopath?

Introduction
In December 2005, during a family party, James’s mother quietly gave him a book and saying, “This book might make you feel better. It is about your father’s family history.” The beginning of the book tells the story of James’s descent, The Cornell Family. In the family’s first case of mother-in-law, in the following 200 years, James’ father’s line has successively exposed several killings of his wife and mother. After 2011, the other two patrilineal bloodlines were also exposed as murderers and a hooligan villain who abandoned his wife. In 2009, James was invited to participate in TED, and he summoning the courage to confess his dog blood family history. After the speech was put on YOUTUBE, it drawn lots of attention from publics. Obviously, for the general public, a “born homicides” can easily attract more attention than “neuroscientist”.

About Author, James H. Fallon:
James H. Fallon was born in October 18, 1947, American neuroscientist. He was born to an Italian American family. He is professor of psychiatry and human behaviour and emeritus professor of anatomy and neurobiology in the University of California. James has been studies about neuroscience area over 35 years. His research topics are very extensive, including: adult stem cells, central nervous system circuits, neurotrophic factors neuroanatomy, based ganglia, dopamine, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, human brain imaging, etc. James participated a TV show called “Criminal Minds”, James starred a psychology professor who has the abnormal psychology gene in the series “Criminal Mind”.

Family history
James has British ancestry as a descendant of the Cornell family of New York settlers. In a monologue broadcast on National Public Radio, he talked about his genetics and family history, his ancestors and the many murders in his family.

Academic work
He received undergraduate training in biology and chemistry at St. Michael's college in Vermont and a degree in psychology and psychophysics from Rensselaer polytechnic institute in New York. He completed his doctoral training in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and his postdoctoral training in chemical neuroanatomy at UC San Diego. He is a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the university of California, Irvine. He is a Sloan scholar, a Fulbright senior fellow, a recipient of the national institutes of health's lifetime achievement award, and a host of honorary degrees and awards. He is an expert on subject of "cognition and warfare" at the pentagon's joint command. He received undergraduate training in biology and chemistry at St. Michael's college in Vermont and a degree in psychology and psychophysics from Rensselaer polytechnic institute in New York. He completed his doctoral training in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and his postdoctoral training in chemical neuroanatomy at UC San Diego. He is a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the university of California, Irvine. He is a Sloan scholar, a Fulbright senior fellow, a recipient of the national institutes of health's lifetime achievement award, and a host of honorary degrees and awards. He is an expert on subject of "cognition and warfare" at the pentagon's joint command. He also made contribution to Schizophrenia, and he has also been cited for his fundamental biological studies of dopamine, norepinephrine, opioid peptides, cortical connections, the limbic system, and basal ganglia in the brains of animals and humans. He has published in brain imaging techniques using positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging and in the new field of imaging genetics.

Contribution:
The founding by James Fallon has surprised himself and the people who have been studied about brain and neuroscience for decades. James is using his personal story to provide us with a convincing display of nature vs nurture, or maybe it is nature and nurture? How does a person turn into a psychopathy or a serial killer? Is it natural to be a psychopathy or serial killer? The answer is: yes, but no. Serial killer, for example, the researchers found that in the human brain scans, the part of the brain responsible for the edge of self-control and empathy is damaged in areas such as the frontal and temporal lobe cortex of the lesion, it caused the fall of their self-control empathy that is to say, psychopathy is not just a psychological problem, also has special physiological cause. In his later research, he proposed the famous 3-Legged Stool Metaphor that we can consider the generation of psychopathy from three aspects: genetic lesions, brain damage, and environmental factors (such as early physical/psychological abuse). Among the genetic changes, James also identified a particular gene that affects the structure of the brain, making people more prone to violent emotions and abnormal behavior. James calls this gene the "warrior gene". Thus, when genetic changes (carrying warrior genes), brain damage (decreased self-control and empathy), and environmental factors (such as early exposure to abuse) come together, a person is likely to develop psychopathy. But even more disconcerting for James Fallon is the fact that he himself is a carrier of the warrior gene, probably because of his father's family history. Add to that the fact that his brain map is so similar to a psychopath's, and James has two of the three ingredients that make him a psychopath. Then the strange question arises: Why didn't James become a psychopath? "I'm a pro-social psychopath," James told the crowd at a TED talk in 2009. He said he was able to control his emotions, even though he had many traits that met the pathological criteria of psychological assessment. He did not develop into a psychopath or a homicidal maniac, but also benefited from good family care and good upbringing. "I have a wonderful family. My parents love me and I have a wonderful family." Said by James Fallon. It was these factors that allowed James Fallon to grow up to be a good scientist, rather than the psychopathic mass murderer of some of his father's family members.

Gene vs Environment
James as a scientist, he used to stand for nature gene is the key influence to the people’s characteristic, biological features and brains’ structure. However, his opinion has been changed since he found himself as an example, and that proves our environment rather than biology decides how people wind up. However, that certain scenario will need to be depend on how many credits you give to environment. Under such circumstances, the power of the environment can turn on or off the influences of gene that brought to your biological features.

Influences to the public:
Since the book has been revealed, it attracted a lot of public attention, people are starting to think about neuroscience and psychology differently. James is an knowledgeable neuroscientist, but he has also been identified as a person with abnormal brain structure (His brain structure is extremely similar to the brain structure of criminal’s or psychopath’s brain), however, Dr. Fallon’s own characteristic softens the blow of being a psychopath, and that would probably evoke readers to think about what particular a psychopath does or does not do, and start to think about their potential for harm. The Book of James Fallon starts a controversial topic of defining and description of the psychopath itself, which makes influences in the study area of neuroscience and psychology. Furthermore, it probably refreshes people’s view of psychopathy, and make them gain knowledge of brain studies.

Conclusion and comments of the book:
James Fallon states that a person with the genes and brain of psychopath should not always end up in prison of turning into violent. James uses himself as a convincible example. He revealed his family line, which included seven alleged murderers, including Lizzie Borden, infamously accused of killing her father and stepmother in 1892. By using Fallon’s story as an example, it indicates that not all psychopaths are harmful and violent, people with abnormal brain structure could also fit into the normal life.