The Neuroscience Behind Empathy

Helping us understand the neuroscience behind evil actions and how to measure empathy, Daniel Reisel makes for a convincing and moving case about inmates in his empathy keynote speech. Having spent a year at Wormwood Scrubs High Security Prison in London studying amygdala activity in the brain of inmates, Reisel shares his somewhat alarming findings in his empathy keynote speech.

The neuroscientist studied the brains of inmates by focusing specifically on morality, and instead of focusing on the illusive concept of evil as is associated with morality, he considered empathy as his indicator.

Reisel's findings show that inmates were able to make moral judgments but failed to understand the emotions required for empathy -- which is the powerful ability of understanding others. Reisel believes the only way to deal with this "blind spot for morality" is to develop programs to help inmates deal with the absence of their empathy.