White lies....white matter

A study out of the University of Southern California could give new meaning to the term "white lie."

Scientists found a 22 percent excess of white matter in the prefrontal cortex of pathological liars, versus normal subjects, after conducting Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on the brains of both groups. The prefrontal cortex is the top layer of the brain's front hemisphere; it is believed to handle cognitive functions such as thinking, learning and judging. White matter serves as electrical wiring, connecting brain cells to one another.

More here
Seed Magazine

Phineas P. Gage (1823 - May 21, 1860) was a railroad construction worker who suffered an unusual kind of traumatic brain injury which inflicted severe damage to parts of his frontal brain during a work accident. Gage reportedly had significant changes in personality and temperament, which provided some of the first evidence that specific parts of the brain, particularly the frontal lobes, might be involved in specific psychological processes dealing with emotion, personality and problem solving.

On September 13, 1848, Phineas Gage was working outside the small town of Cavendish, Vermont on the construction of a railroad track where he was employed as a foreman. One of his duties was to set explosive charges in holes drilled into large pieces of rock so they could be broken up and removed. This involved filling the hole with gunpowder, adding a fuse, and then packing in sand with the aid of a large tamping iron. Gage was momentarily distracted and forgot to pour the sand into one hole. Thus, when he went to tamp the sand down, the tamping iron sparked against the rock and ignited the gunpowder, causing the iron to be blown through Gage's head with such force that it landed almost thirty meters behind him.
en.wikipedia.org...

Proof of just how resiliant our brains really are. His skull is in the Smithsonian. It's impressive. There's a large hole in the top frontal portion of his head.