Does President Putin have Aspergers?

A study from a Pentagon think tank believes President Putin could have Aspergers Syndrome, "an autistic disorder which affects all his decisions."

There's an Asperger's test you can do online and it's amazing how many people (now in middle and old age) who have done the test, believe they have it.  And yet they have survived in the world thus far quite well.

If President putin has it, it could explain his crazy behaviour.

Pentegon researcher Brenda Connors wrote "Putin's neurological development was significantly interrupted in infancy" and "the Russian President carries a neurological abnormality."  

She sounds so positive but there's no way of knowing for sure without a brain scan.

The report cites Dr Stephen Porges who in 2008 wrote "Putin carries a form of autism" but Dr Porges, currently professor at the University of North Carolina, said he "would back off saying he has Asperers."

Instead, Porges said his analysis was that US officials needed to find quieter settings in which to deal with Putin, whose behaviour and facial expressions reveal someone who is defensive in large social settings. Although these features are seen in Aspergers, they can also be found in people who have difficulty staying calm in social settings.  "If you need to do things with him, you don't want to be in a big state affair but more of a one-on-one situation someplace somewhere quiet" he said.

Ms Connors program is called Body Leads - a study of Putin since his rise to power and they found "his primary form of compensation is extreme control which is reflected in his decision style and how he governs."

They speculate that in early life - perhaps even in utero, Putin suffered a damaging hemispheric event to the left temporal lobe of the prefrontal cortex which affects the nervous systems, body movements on his right side, facial expression, eye gaze, hearing and voice.

President Putin, Francoise Hollande and Angela Merkel met in Moscow a few hours ago. Hopefully it was just the three of them, on a one-to-one basis, somewhere quiet.

If he sees reason and removes the rebels from Ukraine, the world will breathe a sigh of relief.