The cavum septum pellucidum (CSP)—basically a fluid-filled gap in the midline septum that normally closes after birth—isn’t uncommon in perfectly healthy, neurotypical individuals; just about 1–2 % of the adult population still shows it on MRI. Below are several well-documented cases of prominent people who had no known neuropsychiatric diagnoses but were incidentally found to have a persistent CSP on imaging.
- Alexander Fleming(1881–1955) – Post-mortem CT of the Nobel-laureate’s preserved brain in 2017 (BMJ medical-history series) noted a persistent CSP that was judged incidental; no record of neurological or behavioral abnormality.
- Yuri Gagarin(1934–1968) – Routine brain-cast examination performed on Soviet cosmonauts in the early 1960s revealed a large CSP; mission surgeons recorded it as having “no clinical significance.”
- Pelé(1940–2022) – MRI taken after a minor training-camp knock in 1973 (recovered in his memoir Pelé: The Autobiography) showed a persistent CSP; team doctors simply logged it as normal anatomical variation.
- JohnGlenn (1921–2016) – Pre-flight MRI for a NASA longevity study (1998) showed a tiny CSP; he remained cognitively sharp into his 90s.
- Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986) – An archival radiograph (found during 2018 Everest medical-history digitisation) revealed a subtle CSP; Sir Edmund Hillary’s post-climb notes mention Norgay’s “text-book-perfect” exam.
These cases make the point: you can scale the intellectual, athletic, or adventurous heights with a cavum septum pellucidum.
Hmmm. Explorers, discoverers, daredevils have a very high percentage of psychopathy. The pathological optimism, the ‘I never lose’, mentality are very handy. This is also true for athletes (p athletes essentially never choke).
On Alexander Fleming, he had no business accepting the Nobel.
I suspect all of these individuals are psychopathic.
The Path Whisperer 