"If humans are evil, why do we sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to help others even at a cost to ourselves?" This week we talk to an expert psychologist about what makes people more altruistic than others...and why some people have no empathy and can even be labeled as 'psychopaths'.  We cover the spectrum between the two which brings about some fascinating ideas on what a year of isolation is doing to people and what effects it might have on how we understand what others think and feel.  

Show notes:

About Abigail Marsh: She is a psychologist and neuroscientist who works as a professor at Georgetown University's Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, where she is the director of the Laboratory on Social and Affective Neuroscience.  She addresses questions using multiple approaches that include functional and structural brain imaging in adolescents and adults from both typical and non-typical populations, as well as behavioral, cognitive, genetic and pharmacological techniques. Among her ongoing research projects are brain imaging and behavioral studies of altruistic kidney donors and brain imaging studies of children/adolescents with severe conduct problems and limited empathy.

The Fear Factor (book)

Abigail Marsh (wiki)

Why Some People are More Altruistic Than Others (TED talk)

Lab website