![]() ![]() They concluded that pathological liars have a surplus of white matter and a deficit of gray matter. When compared to the normal control group, they had about 22 percent more white matter. They then performed MRIs on all the subjects which showed 25 percent more white matter in the pre-frontal lobes of pathological liars when compared to the anti-social group. Twelve people were classified as habitual liars, 16 could be described as having antisocial personalities without being regular liars, and 21 tested as normal. They administered a series of personality tests to a random sample of 49 people. In an earlier 2005 study by the University of Southern California, a team of researchers found evidence of abnormal structural differences in the brains of pathological liars. ![]() This would fit with the scientists observation that people appeared to lie more readily in tasks where it benefited both themselves and their partner, possibly because it was easier to justify a lie that served the common good. The scientists speculate that the amygdala activity could represent the internal conflict between wanting to see oneself as honest and being tempted to act in self-interest by lying. But while the untruths escalated in magnitude, the amygdalas response gradually declined and larger drops in brain activity predicted bigger lies in the future. This showed that the amygdala was most active when people told their first lie. Twenty-five of the volunteers played the game while having their brain activity monitored by an MRI scanner. The amount by which participants lied got larger and larger. At first, volunteers tended to alter the jars value by around £1, but this typically ramped up to about £8 by the end of the session. Neil Garrett, also of UCL and a co-author, said: We knew by how many British pounds they lied on each trial. ![]() Sometimes participants were told they would secretly benefit at their partners expense if they overestimated the cash in the jar, motivating them to lie. In the study, 80 volunteers played a game in which they estimated the value of pennies in a jar and sent their guess to an unseen partner. The relay switch appears to be in the amygdala, which is the integrative center in the brain for emotions, emotional behavior, survival instincts, and motivation. Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist at the University College London and senior author of the study, suspected, along with his colleagues, that pathological lying was due to changes in the brains response to lying, rather than simply being a case of one lie necessitating another to maintain a story. Lying begins feeling more comfortable over time, and the level of dishonesty than magnifies and escalates. In a recent study in Nature Neuroscience, scientists found that telling small, insignificant lies desensitized the brain to dishonesty. They often don’t realize that theyre even doing it. Some pathological liars lie for no good reason whatsoever. Once you catch them in a lie or two, it makes you start questioning everything they say. Frankly, I’m surprised Big Pharma hasn’t come up with a vaccine to remedy this affliction, since it appears to be at epidemic proportion during this year’s U.S. It may start out as little white lies without consequence, then escalating over time to possibly destructive and/or criminal behavior.Īt some time or another we’ve all come across a pathological liar. It is a learnt behavior, reinforced and hard-wired into the brain after repeatedly experiencing some benefit. Pathological liars are made, not born, say the experts.
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