The Development of the Psychopath

Dr. James Blair is Chief of the Unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Blair received a doctoral degree in Psychology from University College London in 1993 under the supervision of Professor John Morton. Following graduation, he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Mental Health Research Fellowship that he held at the Medical Research Council Cognitive Development Unit for three years. Subsequently, he moved to the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London. He joined the NIMH in 2002.

Dr. Blair's research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the regulation of emotion in humans, as well as the neurobiology of anxiety disorder. He is interested in disorders that reflect disturbances in anxiety, such as psychopathy, social anxiety disorder, and general anxiety disorder. His research approach includes techniques employed in cognitive neuroscience (both neuropsychology and functional imaging), and psychopharmacology.