A key part of the brain's circuitry for learning moral and social rules lies right behind the forehead, a study suggests. Antisocial behavior might depend at least in part on malfunctions in this circuitry, researchers said. But it's too early to draw conclusions, and the study doesn't mean that all antisocial behavior can be blamed on damage to this area, said lead author Steven W. Anderson. The area, called the prefrontal cortex, has long been known to affect social behavior.
Prior studies show that people who sustain damage to it as adults can start acting irresponsibly.
A happily married man, for example, might take up with prostitutes and start bouncing checks. Change of Brain A classic tale in brain science, in fact, concerns a railroad construction foreman named Phineas Gage who was the victim of an 1848 explosion that drove a metal rod through his prefrontal cortex. Before the accident he had been industrious, dependable and well-liked, but afterward he became a drifter who was profane, unreliable, impulsive and inconsiderate of his loved ones. Studies of similar patients have shown that despite their disruptive behavior, they do know the moral and social rules of society. The new work, focusing on two adults who sustained damage to the prefrontal cortex before age 16 months, suggests that such early damage can even keep people from learning the rules.