The Brain Science Case 75

Chapter 75: Another Voice in the Brain – 12 (End)

Tang Yingli slept for a full eleven hours, and by the time she woke up, Tao Qianya had already finished translating the recording.

‘You’ve worked hard, Teacher, to obtain such key evidence at such a risk.’

“Don’t say that. Officer Zhou also helped a lot.” After finally finding her glasses and putting them on, Tang Yingli casually ran her hands through her hair and, as soon as she stepped into the bathroom, she shouted, “By the way, the autopsy?” Chomsky’s autopsy.

‘I haven’t touched it yet because of the translation last night. I’ll start in a bit…’

“Wait for me, wait for me.” She looked up. It was already eight. “I’ll be there soon.”

‘You don’t have to rush, Teacher.’

“Professor Chomsky’s abnormal behavior… his brain must hold the answer. To understand all of this, I have to be there.”

‘I see. Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you…’ Tao Qianya was moved by her words. ‘Oh, is this what the teacher often says, “the brain doesn’t lie”?’

Putting on her high heels and her coat, she couldn’t help but say into the phone, “Don’t steal my line.”

**

Tang Yingli and Tao Qianya performed the forensic autopsy together, and she personally removed Andrew Chomsky’s brain from his skull.

They found a slight swelling on the inner side of the right occipital bone, but the 1570-gram brain itself had no obvious abnormalities in its appearance. Tang Yingli couldn’t help but be glad that Jinglin’s shot had deflected Chomsky’s trajectory, otherwise they would never have been able to obtain such a complete brain.

“It seems everything is normal,” Tao Qianya said.

“Yes.”

After confirming his suicide, Tang Yingli called Dr. William and obtained all the brain scans from his CT and MRI. As the doctor had claimed, there were no obvious abnormalities.

But she was not going to give up just yet.

“I will send this brain for testing, for a pathological slide staining diagnosis.”

Slide staining… “Do you suspect the professor had CTE, Teacher?”

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a condition diagnosed through special slide staining. CTE patients can experience dementia, cognitive impairment, suicidal tendencies, depression, and impulsive behavior. Because it requires special immunohistochemical staining and brain slides, it can currently only be diagnosed after death.

“If it can be confirmed, then it would perfectly explain his disordered behavior.”

Under the slide staining technique, Chomsky’s brain was found to have typical CTE symptoms. Extracellular amyloid plaques, sparse tau protein, and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) were found throughout his brain, including the frontal, temporal, occipital, parietal, and insular lobes.

Significant lesions had been found, and as for the cause, it was likely closely related to his love of American football, hunting, and other sports. From his time as a college player, the repeated concussions from closed head injuries were the key factor in causing CTE.

The answer was revealed. Chomsky had indeed killed Meta Müller, but he was also a patient suffering from a brain disease.

“He had a significant injury to his right occipital lobe before he died, which may have caused him to suffer from a brief episode of Capgras syndrome, leading him to misidentify Müller…” When submitting the autopsy report, Tang Yingli specifically pointed this out as the reason for his killing of Müller.

Without a doubt, if the psychiatric diagnosis report were to be accepted in court, Andrew Chomsky would receive a reduced sentence.

As for George Miller, who had full control of his actions and judgment, he was not in the scope of discussion.

**

After finally finishing the investigation and taking a shower, Jinglin was comfortably curled up on the sofa, drinking the sparkling mineral water Tang Yingli had provided.

“…So it’s a good thing I fired that shot?” she almost choked. “Really?”

Her actions this time were in accordance with the regulations for the use of police equipment. The culprit had a gun, was extremely dangerous, and was also holding a hostage. Although Chomsky had eventually turned the gun on himself, if it had been slightly off, the person who would have been injured would have been Tang Yingli, who was closest to him…

Thinking of this, her hands couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

But Tang Yingli’s thanks were on a completely different level.

“Yes, your bullet caused the trajectory to shift, which allowed his brain to be preserved intact.” If it had gone through his brain, his CTE might never have been diagnosed.

“Before Ms. Müller died… did she really repeat Miller’s name?”

“That’s what her lip-reading said.” And she had repeated it two or three times.

“Even though she knew Chomsky had killed her, she still tried to protect him…” Curling her legs, Jinglin couldn’t help but sigh. “Oh, love can make or break you.”

“Are you sure you’re using that right?”

“How else should I use it? Wasn’t your teacher’s case designed because of emotional factors… by the way, was my sentence standard?” She had been practicing it over and over while listening to their conversation.

Tang Yingli smiled. “It was very standard.”

Jinglin’s smile was a little proud, and she had unknowingly drunk the sparkling water down to the last drop. She let out a small burp.

Without realizing it, she had also gradually gotten used to drinking sparkling water.

“What are you looking at?” she had been staring at the laptop screen from the beginning.

“An academic paper.” She rested her chin on her hand and quickly and accurately read the text on the screen. At the end, the author was clearly displayed in the bottom right corner—Andrew Chomsky.

This was the last rational article he had published before his death. The wise, sharp, and to-the-point writing showed in every line that this was the Chomsky she was familiar with.

The paper spanned criminal psychology and psychiatry, and she couldn’t help but sigh that even though he had been driven mad by his illness, he was still a genius.

Jinglin came around behind her and saw the dense English letters. “Ugh, I can’t read it.”

Tang Yingli shot Jinglin a look. “In any case, the case is finally over.” Saving it, she closed the laptop and stood up, suddenly covering her mouth. “Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your fMRI and PET results, my brother has already sent them to me.”

“Huh?” she hadn’t been notified at all. “Where?”

Tang Yingli produced a manila envelope from somewhere. “Here. I’ve already printed them out.”

“I want to see, I want to see.” Jinglin took it, both nervous and excited. “Hey, have you seen them?”

“Yes, I took a quick look.”

“And the results… no, don’t explain it yet.” Jinglin held up a hand to stop her. “I remember what your scans looked like. Let me compare them from memory.”

As she opened the envelope, Jinglin felt like a child who had just gotten a Christmas present. The scans were black and white, and the angles were the same as Tang Yingli’s.

“It’s about the same as yours.”

She crossed her arms. “Really? Tell me.”

Jinglin looked at the three different angles of the brain cross-sections over and over. “This part in the middle, and on top… is this the parietal lobe? And this part on the forehead, there’s a large black area in all of them.” She pouted and hugged her scans. “I remember you have them too, right?”

“You’re not being very clear… here, let the professional explain it to you.”

She handed over the scans. “I’m not a neuroscientist.”

Tang Yingli invited her to sit at the dining table and spread the three scans out against the light.

Jinglin had thought she would start explaining right away, but to her surprise, she looked at them for a long time. “What’s wrong?”

“Before you can understand the test results, I’ll explain a few important functional areas to you first.” She rested her chin on her hand, as if in thought. “First, here, the amygdala in the hypothalamus. It’s responsible for fear, frightening memories and experiences, and can also trigger the fight-or-flight response.”

Jinglin’s eyes widened, and she almost took out a pen to take notes. “Mm-hm.”

“This black part in the middle of the side is the cingulate cortex and the insula in the center of the brain. This part in the front is the prefrontal cortex and the orbital cortex. These are collectively called the ‘limbic cortex,’ and because they are highly related to emotional control, they are also called the ‘emotional cortex.’ The insula is the connector that links the cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortex, and the orbital cortex.” Tang Yingli paused for a moment and said in a calm tone, “From the results, your amygdala function is normal, and your prefrontal cortex may have some damage, but it’s not a big problem. The main problem is in the cingulate cortex, which is very likely to cause you to have problems with emotional control or behavioral inhibition.”

Jinglin stared at the part she was pointing to. “Cingulate cortex… a problem?”

“Yes, the ventral side of your prefrontal cortex is dark, which also means you will have a greater emotional fluctuation when you are stimulated… the dark areas mean incomplete or damaged function, and the lighter the area, the more normal it is.” She pointed to the insula with her pen. “For example, your insula is normal in connecting emotional responses, but in inhibiting impulses…”

“Wait a minute. So my brain isn’t normal? This large black area…” Jinglin’s agitated statement was suddenly cut off. She looked at Tang Yingli. “Your brain has it too?”

Compared to her, who had just learned the truth, Tang Yingli’s reaction was much calmer… even cold.

“Your brain has a large black area too, doesn’t it? Especially on the forehead.”

“Yes,” Tang Yingli admitted openly, “my amygdala and prefrontal cortex have the same black areas as yours.”

“So your brain has a defect too? And it’s such a large part…”

But Tang Yingli just shook her head coolly and smiled faintly. “Do you remember what I told you?”

Jinglin’s voice trembled. “What?”

“A defect in the brain doesn’t mean that person will definitely become a criminal.” Tang Yingli gently pressed her hot forehead, the location of the orbital cortex. “Although our brains have defects, the care we receive from others during our growth, and a good education… are enough to stop us from becoming out-of-control criminals.”

Jinglin’s breathing gradually calmed, and she looked back at Tang Yingli, nodding forcefully.

“If you know your brain, you can give yourself the proper psychological preparation when you encounter external stimuli, instead of being led by the nose by your emotions.” She picked up one of the scans. “This is why I suggested you get a full check-up.”

“I see, I understand.” She took a deep breath. “I was so worried before that if my brain wasn’t normal, you would… but you have it too?” It had to be said that when Tang Yingli had admitted that her own brain had a defect, she had been relieved.

“Yes.” Tang Yingli tilted her head and muttered to herself, “So we have another similarity? It’s hard to explain…”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. But even if they are both defects,” she put Jinglin’s brain scans back in the envelope, “the situations we’ve encountered are completely different.”

“Completely different?”

“Try to think back on our respective emotional reactions when we encounter a case, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

Before Jinglin could react, she picked up her computer and walked back to her room with a cool demeanor.

Closing the door and facing the darkness, Tang Yingli thought back on what Miller had said to her in the coffee shop.

‘You’re a testament to it, right?’

Compared to Jinglin’s impulsive loss of control, her brain, contrary to the norm, gave her more emotional suppression, which made her calmer and better at planning, but on the other hand, in order to achieve her goals, she could be ruthless.

Even if others didn’t mention it, Tang Yingli knew very well that in the bottom of her heart, there was also a beast.

And could she always successfully control it?

She had no confidence.