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One of the world’s most prominent serial killer profilers says trusting your gut is the best way to stay safe. “That’s your limbic system reacting,” Ann Burgess told people.com in a wide-ranging interview.

“It’s an involuntary system that is set in us to alarm us, and you should pay attention to it. I just think that’s only good sense to listen to it, and not to override the system.” The nurse and professor is the subject of a three-part Hulu doc series Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer , which began airing July 11 Burgess’ career took flight when she worked with sexual assault survivors in the 1970s.



The FBI tapped her to consult with the Behavioral Science Unit, which developed the first-ever psychological profiling for serial killers. (The character of Dr. Wendy Carr in the series Mindhunter was modelled after Burgess.

) Burgess’ work has led to several arrests, and she continues to consult on high-profile cases, including the Menendez Brothers and Bill Cases. Backed by decades of research, she has arrived at conclusions about serial killers: Their mental shifts into sociopaths typically happen around puberty, and they often have an unnatural fascination with the human body. “A lot of this acting out starts right at puberty, right at adolescence — 12, 13, 14,” Burgess told people.

com. “So we know there’s a real shift, if you will, in the biological neurological system. And it could be that certain parts of the brain get overstimulated because .

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