'A riveting ride through your own brain' - Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals

Whether humans are good or evil is a question that has plagued philosophers and scientists for as long as there have been philosophers and scientists.

Abigail Marsh has closely studied the brains of both the worst and the best among us - from children with psychopathic traits whose families live in fear of them, to adult altruists who have given their own kidneys to strangers.

In The Fear Factor, Marsh explores the human capacity for caring, drawing on cutting edge research findings from clinical, translational and brain imaging investigations on the nature of empathy, altruism and aggression and brings us closer to understanding the basis of human social nature.

'Reads like a thriller... One of the most mind-opening books I have read in years' - Matthieu Ricard, author of Altruism

Abigail Marsh is an associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University. She received her PhD in social psychology from Harvard University and completed post-doctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health. For over twelve years, she has conducted behavioural and brain research aimed at understanding how we understand each other's feelings, why we care about one another's welfare, and the causes of the worst and best impulses within us, from violent aggression to life-saving altruism. Her work has been covered in The Times, Slate, the Huffington Post, NPR, The Economist, New York Magazine and in a popular TED Talk.