Issue 1 Spring 2022

Neuroscience’s role in
understanding serial killers
To delve deeper into serial killer psychology, we
can turn to the field of neuroscience for some
insight. A 1999 study compared the brain activity of
41 murderers to a control group. While presented
with a visual task designed to engage various
regions of the brain, PET scans of the two groups
revealed a surprising difference in brain activity.
The murderers engaged little to none of their
prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain
responsible for complex decision-making. Both of
the groups showed similar activity in their visual
cortex. The lack of engagement in the prefrontal
cortex is believed to factor into a predisposition to
violence since it gives control to evolutionarily older
areas. Damage to the prefrontal cortex has been
associated with emotional outbursts, increased
risk-taking, and argumentative behavior -- all of
which have been associated with violent crime. At
a social and personality level, damage to the
prefrontal cortex may hinder self-control and the
ability to formulate non-confrontational solutions.
A brain scan of a control brain (right) and
murderer (left). The prefrontal cortex, located
at the top of both images, is activated in the
control brain but not the murderer’s.
Why are we fascinated with serial killers?
Serial killers are a mainstay of American culture. Despite committing their crimes decades ago, killers like David
Berkowitz and Richard Ramirez influence music, films, and TV... Fascination with serial killers is especially peculiar because
of the gruesome nature of their crimes. It seems that the reason we are so engrossed in the lives of these deeply distrubed
individuals is because of their incomprehensible nature. In a recent poll, 11 out of 13 Scarsdale High School students
indicated that they had an interest in learning about or watching content related to serial killers. To the vast majority of the
population, the mind of a serial killer is impossible to understand, which makes their crimes ever more intriguing. Serial killer
crimes are often exotic, differing from our common understanding of a criminal, and thus attracting public attention. The
average populace experiences a wide range of emotions, joy, sadness, excitement, remorse; meanwhile, serial killers are
emotionally stunted or incapable. The “guilty” pleasure comes in trying to understand and rationalize the heinous actions of
the most macabre to walk amongst us.
Note: Questions were taken from a mixture of the Mensa website and the CRT (Cognitive reflection test).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
$0.05, as $0.05 + $1.05 = $1.10
5 minutes. Each machine takes 5 minutes to make a widget, therefore 100 machines would still take 5 minutes to make 100 widgets.
47 Days. Since the patch doubles every day, the lake must be halfway covered the day before it is fully covered, meaning it would take 47
days.
We don’t really know the answer to this one…
BAND (BANDAGE, BANDWIDTH, BANDIT, BANDSTAND, BANDWAGON)
G, it’s the sequence letters on the third line of a QWERTY keyboard (from bottom-up) from right to left.
4: Multiply the first two numbers to get the next two numbers in a row. 8 x 8 = 64
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