As changes in the brain turn people into dangerous psychopaths
A Life / / December 19, 2019
Brutal narcissistic manipulators psychopaths excite the public consciousness, and constantly appear in popular culture. People love to look at psychopaths, but life from them is better to stay away. They are impulsive, not able to empathize and feel guilty. Psycho will shamelessly use you, and even who resorts to lies and treachery never for a moment think about their behavior.
Why do people feel guilty, and psychopaths do not have this ability? Studies show that the reason is not the lack of proper education, and structural and functional disorders in the brain.
What is wrong with the brain of a psychopath
Empathy, guilt and moral judgments are born thanks to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPK). Studies of people with bilateral damage to the structure shownDamage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgementsThat it is extremely important for the emotional experience of complex moral situations.
Participants with damaged vmPK always guided by reason alone, even when it came to difficult situations such as the need to kill a man with his own hands in order to avoid a greater evil.
When scientists from the University of Wisconsin in Madison investigatedPsychopaths' Brains Show Differences in Structure and Function brain psychopathic criminals dysfunction was discovered in this structure, and more precisely, in its relation to the emotional center of the brain - the amygdala.
Another study showed criminalsPsychopathy linked to brain abnormalitiesThat psychopaths, violent, the volume of gray matter is significantly reduced in the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex and the anterior end of the temporal lobe - the temporal pole. These structures are also responsible for empathy and guilt - feelings that are not familiar psychopaths.
However, the inability to empathize - this is not a crime, and a man with such an anomaly will not necessarily kill, rape and cheating. Moreover, there are psychopaths among respected members of society: scientists and heads of major corporations.
For antisocial behavior responsible psychotics other complex combinations of neurological activity.
What makes a psychopath criminal
In 2013, scientists conductedNeurological basis for lack of empathy in psychopathsanother study in prison. The findings show pictures of physical pain, and then asked to imagine what had happened to them or to others.
When psychopaths represent their pain, they have increased activity in areas of the brain responsible for pain empathy. This cutting island, the middle part of the cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex and right amygdala. It was clear that psychopaths feel and understand the concept of pain when it comes to them.
When they were asked to imagine how it hurts others, brain activity was very different. At this time, regions responsible for empathy for pain, are not activated. Instead, the increased activity in the ventral striatum - the brain's structure, management processes, rewards and motivation.
The researchers suggested that psychopaths enjoy the views of others' pain.
However, it is not enough that a man ventured into violence and risky end up in jail. To go on the offense, the psychopath must either too want it and does not control his behavior, or bad represent the consequences of their actions. This is what is found in further experiments.
The expectation of a reward blows the roof
Striatum - an important part of the brain's reward system. She is involved in the occurrence of motivation to act, when we want something. However, we will not achieve the desired, if it will lead to bad consequences.
For this ability, you can say thanks to the prefrontal cortex: it helps to control our actions and suppress impulsive behavior. People can appreciate the consequences of their decisions and to give the desired thanks to the prefrontal cortex.
In psychopaths, this mechanism is much worse than that of normal people. Criminals with a strong degree of psychopathy connection between ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex violatedNeural connectivity during reward expectation dissociates psychopathic criminals from non-criminal individuals with high impulsive / antisocial psychopathic traits.
Dangerous psychopaths so much look forward to the reward that they can not control their behavior. Their desire is too strong to the prefrontal cortex might deal with them.
Moreover, at the expense of the oppressed relationship between the prefrontal cortex and striatum are not able to realizeStudy shows psychopathic brains are wired in a way that can lead to dangerous and violent actions, What will their actions. Immediate reward overshadows their consciousness, and further consequences such as imprisonment have no meaning.
Does this mean that psychopaths are not to blame
American judges tend toThe Double-Edged Sword: Does Biomechanism Increase or Decrease Judges' Sentencing of Psychopaths? impose more lenient sentences, when present biochemical reason psychopathy. In this situation, it seems that man carries less personal responsibility for their actions. However, this is of little comfort to those affected by the action psychoAnd his future victims.
Russia does not use the term "psychopathy". The International Classification of DiseasesSpecific personality disorders (F60) this violation is under F60.2 number - antisocial personality disorder - and currently has no effective treatments.
Probably the only thing that can be done - while recognize a psychopath and stay away from him.
see also
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