The Psychopath Test

by Jon Ronson

the tests seemed to indicate that the amygdala, the part of the brain that should have anticipated the unpleasantness and sent the requisite signals of fear over to the central nervous system, wasn’t functioning as it should. It was an enormous breakthrough for Bob, his first clue that the brains of psychopaths were different to regular brains. But he was even more astonished when he repeated the test. This time the psychopaths knew exactly how much pain they’d be in when he reached one, and still: nothing. No sweat. Bob learned something that Elliott Barker wouldn’t for years: psychopaths were likely to reoffend. ‘They had no memory of the pain of the electric shock even when the pain had occurred just moments before,’ Bob said. ‘So what’s the point in threatening them with imprisonment if they break the terms of their parole? The threat has no meaning for them.’