http://www.hulu.com/watch/174114#i0,p0,s1,d0
This is an episode of a show called "Secrets of Your Mind" and it is free on hulu.com.
It discusses what is going on in the brain of psychopaths. The later portion of the show discussed the work of Dr. Jim Fallon, a neurobiologist. After he was into his research, which showed a significantly lowered amount of activity in the frontal lobe/orbital cortex, he looked into his own family tree. Then he did brain scans and DNA analysis on his entire family - his mom, his siblings, his children, his wife, etc.... He did that because on his father's side there were quite a few murderers. He found one member of his entire family that had lowered activity in the frontal lobe/orbital cortex and that same person had the genes linked with aggression, the so-called "warrior genes".
The person in Dr. Fallon's family iwth these differences was Dr. Fallon himself.
He then looked for a reason for why he was never violent, has never hurt anyone, and has had no history of hurting anyone. In fact, his house was the one that his kids and their friends spent the most time at - and the kids say this was because Dr. Fallon was so friendly and funny. The reason that he has come up with to explain why he isn't violent or mean is love. He grew up in a family full of love and was never abused or around violence. He says that this loving family life is the reason that he is not what we would call a difficult child.
Dr. Fallon believes that if he had not had such a loving and supporting family then he would have had a very different, difficult child-ish life.
So for those of us who don't think we can help our kids triumph over "nature", there IS evidence that "nurture" can make a huge difference.
I am likely not explaining this as well as the show does, but it is amazing research and I thought some of you might be interested in it. by the way, Dr. Fallon was actually on an episode of Criminal Minds back in 2009 (Outfoxed, Season 5 Episode 8).
I know that nurturing a child can be a challenge, but I do think that we are not doomed by our brain function and dna. I know that love truly does change us for the better.
This is an episode of a show called "Secrets of Your Mind" and it is free on hulu.com.
It discusses what is going on in the brain of psychopaths. The later portion of the show discussed the work of Dr. Jim Fallon, a neurobiologist. After he was into his research, which showed a significantly lowered amount of activity in the frontal lobe/orbital cortex, he looked into his own family tree. Then he did brain scans and DNA analysis on his entire family - his mom, his siblings, his children, his wife, etc.... He did that because on his father's side there were quite a few murderers. He found one member of his entire family that had lowered activity in the frontal lobe/orbital cortex and that same person had the genes linked with aggression, the so-called "warrior genes".
The person in Dr. Fallon's family iwth these differences was Dr. Fallon himself.
He then looked for a reason for why he was never violent, has never hurt anyone, and has had no history of hurting anyone. In fact, his house was the one that his kids and their friends spent the most time at - and the kids say this was because Dr. Fallon was so friendly and funny. The reason that he has come up with to explain why he isn't violent or mean is love. He grew up in a family full of love and was never abused or around violence. He says that this loving family life is the reason that he is not what we would call a difficult child.
Dr. Fallon believes that if he had not had such a loving and supporting family then he would have had a very different, difficult child-ish life.
So for those of us who don't think we can help our kids triumph over "nature", there IS evidence that "nurture" can make a huge difference.
I am likely not explaining this as well as the show does, but it is amazing research and I thought some of you might be interested in it. by the way, Dr. Fallon was actually on an episode of Criminal Minds back in 2009 (Outfoxed, Season 5 Episode 8).
I know that nurturing a child can be a challenge, but I do think that we are not doomed by our brain function and dna. I know that love truly does change us for the better.
