“Pincus presents his research — much of which deals with scientific information about the frontal lobes of the brain — in a nimble, absorbing and highly entertaining way. (His stories will have you checking the lock on your front door several times before you turn out the lights.) Although Pincus does not treat his subjects sympathetically, he also knows that to cast them off as evil, morally debased monsters limits our understanding of the ingredients that somehow get thrown together to create a killer.

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Interview with neurologist Jonathan Pincus, author of Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill.

“Q: According to your book, three things intersect to create a killer: mental illness, neurological damage and child abuse. Are all three always there?

Pincus: Two-thirds of murderers have all three factors, and the others have two of the three. It’s pretty clear that mental illness is not enough to cause violence because most people who are mentally ill are not violent. It’s also evident that neurological damage is not enough to cause violence because the vast majority of people who are neurologically impaired are not violent. And it’s clear that the experience of horrendous child abuse is not enough to cause violence because most people who are abused that way are not violent. Yet, most violent people have these three factors, or two of the three. That’s an indisputable fact.

The theory that explains it is that abuse sets up an impulse toward violence that a good brain can control. If you get the abuse and the neurological damage and mental illness, then violent impulses are not easy to check. That’s why they are expressed under stress or at times of jealousy or anger.” Salon