The Tell-Tale Heart

Adrian Raine, a criminologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studies the criminal brain and other factors that can push some in the direction of violence and/or criminal acts. In his book The Anatomy of Violence, he points to the physical anomalies, such as a very low resting heart rate (the Unabomber's is 54, lower than the usual 60 to 100 beats per minute) or small prefrontal cortex, that his years of research have shown him are indicators of the potential for violence. The implications of his findings are huge: "Treating the physical causes will work more quickly and effectively," Raine argues, "than repairing the complicated social factors that also contribute to criminal behaviour": http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2013/04/anatomy-violence-raine.html