Could it be the diagnosis is simply wrong, i.e. brain scans are interpreted incorrectly? We know that brain is quite elastic and after an injury another part of the brain can take the functionality of non-working part. Maybe his brain routed around damage from pre-natal stage?
> My bias is that even though I work in growth factors, plasticity, memory, and learning, I think the whole idea of plasticity in adults—or really after puberty—is so overblown.
But he also said that his condition was somewhat overcome via "learned behavior". Depending on how you look at it, that's a layman's "plasticity". (the neuroscience term meaning something specific - the layman's term simply referring to the question of whether "people can change"). At the root of it is: does this person WANT to change? In TFA's case, he went from a state of either not being aware he had a problem, or not caring enough to want to change - to a state of wanting to change (and having the motivation and self discipline to overcome his impulses, and methodically role-play genuine feelings. What's at the root of this "want"? Fear of going to prison? Appreciation for his privileged position and overall success in life? How is that fundamentally different from a "Normal" person. And was his change a result of post-pubescent plasticity? Or is this neuroscientist getting dualist on us?
