Credulity has a focus in the brain!

Why do some people fall for scams and why are older folks especially prone to being duped? An article provides an answer:

An answer, it seems, is because a specific area of the brain has deteriorated or is damaged, according to researchers at the University of Iowa. By examining patients with various forms of brain damage, the researchers report they've pinpointed the precise location in the human brain, called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, that controls belief and doubt, and which explains why some of us are more gullible than others. 

"The current study provides the first direct evidence beyond anecdotal reports that damage to the vmPFC (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) increases credulity. Indeed, this specific deficit may explain why highly intelligent vmPFC patients can fall victim to seemingly obvious fraud schemes," the researchers wrote in the paper published in a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

 Not only do we think with our brains, but if our brains deteriorate with age in a specific manner, our thinking deteriorates with age in a specific, corresponding manner! I bet that if we could look more closely we would find that more credulous people differ from less credulous people in their brains more generally.