According to TwistedMinds, aside from his parents divorcing, Ted Bundy had a seemingly normal childhood (creativescapism.com). He was loved by his fellow classmates back in school, had a happy family life, and even attended college as an honor student; from here he become one of America’s top 5 serial killers, by raping and murdering more than 30 women (ranker.com). His professors in college say that Bundy started to become closed off and socially awkward with manipulative tendencies. Some people argue that becoming a serial killer is due to abuse and neglect in childhood which then translates into a vicious blood thirsty rage, but how does someone with a “normal” childhood grow up to be one of the most dangerous people in America? In my opinion, I think that being a serial killer is something that is found within someone’s genes, and that once one starts to show the symptoms and are found to have linking disorders they should be introduced to therapy and other precautious measures in an attempt to lessen the number of serial killers in the world.

One of the most profound pieces of evidence is found within the genetic makeup of serial killers. MAO-A, also known as the warrior gene, is found on the X chromosome, which is why there are more male serial killers than females. MAO-A is a defect that affects the tramitters that produce norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine (geneticliteracyproject). This can make a person feel almost numb to pain and make someone respond very aggressively when provoked. Phillip Hunter from NBIC talks about how the genetic disorder is passed down through families, females being the carriers predominantly and males showing the traits. In a neurologist’s study he took blood samples of his family members consisting of known violent members and focused on the MAO-A gene. He found that almost all of his family members had the gene including him, but that wasn’t the only thing he found. Dr. Fallon had found he fit all of the genetic makeup patterns of a serial killer (npr.com). This genetic makeup included activity in the orbital cortex.

Another reason to believe that being a serial killer is hereditary is the low activity that was found in the orbital cortex of many studied serial killers. The orbital frontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for working with memory in the frontal lobe, processing how to handle emotions and how the brain processes them, and most importantly the ability to be able to decipher between right and wrong (Bechara, A. Damasio, H. Damasio 295-307). A neuroscientist named James Fallon, with a fascination of the minds of criminals and a family lineage of violence which includes Lizzy Borden, made a startling discovery (npr.com). During a podcast with Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Dr. Fallon speaks about studying brain scans within his family and also comparing those to known killers and psychopaths; he came to find that the people in his family who were known as violent all had the same brain abnormality: a low functioning orbitofrontal cortex. With an inactive orbital cortex, a person is affected neurologically, personality wise, and on a social level. Having a low functioning orbital cortex, a person is unable to control their impulses due to the amygdala being affected. The amygdala is responsible for feelings of aggression and the need to break rules. On a social level this causes people to not be able to understand social cues and how to deal with conflict in a nonaggressive way (Raine, 1999). 

Although Dr. Fallon found that nearly everyone in his family that was predisposed to aggression had the brain defect, not everyone who had it was aggressive and dangerous. Dr. Fallon himself had the brain defect, but became a neuroscientist with no history of violence. Opposing viewpoints may say that this is because Fallon was raised in a more adequate home as a child. NPR states that for a serial killer to form it takes three things: low activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, their genetic code must have MAO-A (the warrior gene), and they must have been physically or emotionally abused as an adolescent. I believe that the reason that Fallon has never shown any aggressive symptoms is because he has not had a triggering moment to activate the genes. This could be something as small as losing a job, a divorce, or a fight at a bar. Without a triggering situation the genes may lie in a dormant state until activated. This does not mean it has to be abuse, and the triggering moment does not need to happen as a child. For Jeffery Dahmer it was his wife divorcing him that caused him to go on a mass murder spree abducting, raping, and killing women who resembled his ex-wife.

In a study by Dr. Adrian Raine 82 people had undergone PET scans, which are scans of the brain that are able to be seen after a patient is injected with a compound that allows a psychiatrist to be able to see the amount of activity in the patient’s brain. The trial consisted of 41 known serial killers and 41 non-aggressive partners that matched in age and gender and measured the amount of activity that was found in their frontal lobes and the orbital cortex as they completed various activities (dana.org).  The study had found that all of the serial killers had 3 distinct characteristics: the left angular gyrus had low functionality, the corpus callosum didn’t have a high output ratio when compared to those who are not killers or known aggressors, and abnormal activity in the subcortical regions.

In the brain the left angular gyrus is the part of the brain that is responsible for verbal communication. With a defected left angular gyrus the person is more likely to have trouble communicating their thoughts verbally and may lead to aggressive outbursts as a way to communicate or get their point across. Also, with a communication barrier the person is more prone to being thought of or feeling like a ‘failure’ causing more chances and scenarios to have a breaking moment. The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that connects the right hemisphere to the left. When this is damaged the nerve endings tend to favor the left hemisphere which is responsible for anger and other negative feelings. This will cause the person to be angrier and have outbursts or episodes while making impulse decisions. The final activity that is found in a serial killer’s brain, but not in a normal person’s is in the subcortical regions.

According to ScienceDaily, these defects in the subcortical cortex can be caused by trauma that occurs to the brain stem and even after brain surgery. Most of the time an injury can occur to the brain stem after surgery to remove brain tumors. As for left angular gyrus defects, these can occur by being diagnosed with Gerstmann’s syndrome. Gerstmann’s syndrome can either be developed or can occur from a stroke that affects the left angular gyrus. This can cause someone to not be able to communicate their thoughts via writing, they cannot do arithmetic, they sometimes cannot distinguish their fingers or the difference between the two sides of their body (rarediseases.org).  Finally, a baby can be born with ACC, which is when your corpus callosum is either not fully developed or not developed at all (rarediseases.org). You can either be born with these defects or they can happen due to injury or medical misfortunes. Nothing that happens to you in childhood whether it is physical or mental abuse can cause these defects. This means that the argument that says “serial killers are people with bad childhoods and are raised through abuse” can be refuted. 

Some early signs of a forming serial killer include antisocial tendencies, harming animals, and are involved in substance abuse (crimemuseum.com).
