“Some people have an edge up on others in their ability to tell lies,” says Adrian Raine, a psychologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “They are better wired for the complex computations involved in sophisticated lies.”
He found that pathological liars have on average more white matter in their prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that is active during lying, and less grey matter than people who are not serial fibbers. White matter enables quick, complex thinking while grey matter mediates inhibitions.” (New Scientist)
If liars have more white matter (not clear if it is cause or effect), do honest people succumb more often to the various neurological diseases that involve the CNS’ white matter? It seems to me, thinking back,. that the patients I have known with multiple sclerosis were all really good people. Someone should do the research…
