Liars’ Brains Wired Differently

Biology Tuesday, October 11, 2005. Post by Chad

A USC study has found the first proof of structural brain abnormalities in people who habitually lie, cheat and manipulate others. The research—led by Yaling Yang and Adrian Raine—is published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The researchers used Magnetic Resonance Imaging to explore structural brain differences between liars and non-liars. The liars had significantly more “white matter” and slightly less “gray matter” than those they were measured against, Raine said. Specifically, liars had a 25.7 percent increase in prefrontal white matter compared to the antisocial controls and a 22 percent increase compared to the normal controls. Liars had a 14.2 percent decrease in prefrontal gray matter compared to normal controls.

More white matter—the wiring in the brain—may provide liars with the tools necessary to master the complex art of deceit, Raine said.

“Lying takes a lot of effort,” he said.

“It’s almost mind reading. You have to be able to understand the mindset of the other person. You also have to suppress your emotions or regulate them because you don’t want to appear nervous. There’s quite a lot to do there. You’ve got to suppress the truth.

“Our argument is that the more networking there is in the prefrontal cortex, the more the person has an upper hand in lying. Their verbal skills are higher. They’ve almost got a natural advantage.”

Sources: USC News, The Other Side

VerNetzer

October 13th, 2005 at 7:59 pm

All politicians should go through a mandatory test, to be submitted as candidates for election.

Drifter855

October 13th, 2005 at 9:53 pm

I was waiting for someone else to point that out :D

chad

October 14th, 2005 at 6:56 am

I think successful politicians quickly get to the point where their brains are completely composed of white matter, with no gray matter left to connect.

benhocking

October 14th, 2005 at 12:36 pm

Giving politicians a test on lying is like giving Hawking a test on physics.

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