BUZZ Fam, well, this is interesting.

Apparently, hardened criminals have an abnormal brain structure and display aggressive behaviour from early childhood.

This is according to a study from the University College London and published in The Lancet.

The researchers did brain scans of almost 7,000 people aged 45. And a third had a history of antisocial behaviour ranging from physical fighting to truancy.

The researchers found that people with a lifetime of convictions behind them had structurally smaller and thinner brains, some of which were in areas responsible for behaviour and emotion control.

Researchers also looked at their criminal records and questioned their teachers and nursery staff.

They identified a group of 80 adults with a ‘persistent’ history of antisocial behaviour and physical violence, ranging from biting other children in nursery to domestic violence as an adult.

However, those who had only caused trouble as adolescents did not have significant brain differences compared to the general population, however experts said the findings are a ‘valuable’ insight into what drives crime and how to prevent it happening.