Brain Difference In Psychopaths: Article Analysis

Annotated Bibliography Citation List Englebert, J. (2015). A new understanding of psychopathy: The contribution of phenomenological psychopathology. Psychopathology, 48(6), 368-375. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.gsu.edu/10.1159/000437441 Jerome Englebert, Department of Psychology and Clinics of Human Systems, University of Liège, provides a theoretical analysis towards a new understanding of psychopathy by way of phenomenological psychopathology. Seeking the meaning structure and the meaning that links different signs of the disorder, Englebert examines both mania and psychopathy through the lens of major theoretical works by Schneider, London, Cassel, Cleckley, Hare, and Cooke et.

One important difference between an average person’s brain and a psychopath’s is the different paralimbic systems. The paralimbic system is a "behaviour circuit of the brain which is correlated to processing emotions’’ and self control. People with stunted paralimbic systems do not empathize with others and have strong self control. Psychopaths also show abnormal balances of dopamine and adrenaline (Vronsky 247). Dopamine is released in rewarding situations and adrenaline is released in stressful situations. This unbalance is innate and can factor into violent behavior. Low dopamine activity is common within psychopaths and drives them to do thrill-seeking activities to get more dopamine. These activities also play on their desire for adrenaline. There are “drugs that influence the monoamine neurotransmitter systems [that] can reduce desire for adrenaline” and dopamine but nothing can change it (Fallon 206). In other words, most psychopathic psychological traits are innate but their environment can influence

Different personalities and mental illness effect people differently may help professionals detect killers before a major disaster. Also, it may be genetic in many families because of genes that develop more and more over time. Serial Killers may be more predictable than other types of killers because of their mental health. Another way a serial killer may be caught or predicted is through family genes and ancestry. A violent gene in distant family can help predict violent people. This paper and information is not meant to scary people or to make people stereotype a group of humans, it is meant for people interested in brain chemistry and to teach them something

When most people hear the word psychopath their mind forms a picture of a wild-eyed, rambling, lunatic who is often restrained in a straitjacket. The media has helped this belief along the way with slasher horror films and grisly CSI episodes depict these strange humans. However, the average psychopath is much harder to spot than most people believe. In fact, most of them are extremely difficult to distinguish from ordinary humans. They outwardly appear normal and many do not find it difficult to blend into common society. They can interact with others, hold successful jobs, and effectively keep themselves out of trouble. Most are not the sadistic killers many people think they are. Psychopaths are people born with problems (Bartol 105) or

According to studies led by King’s College researchers, it has been confirmed that “psychopathy is a distinct subgroup of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)” (Gregory et. al n.p) and similarly to psychopathy, the more severe ASPD behavioral patterns are, the symptoms can be referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic. Furthermore, according to Nigel Blackwood, Ma, MD.MRCPsych, “MRI scans...found that psychopaths had structural brain abnormalities in key areas of their ‘social brains’” (Gregory et. al n.p). The areas of the brain, in which are deficient in psychopaths, are important when comprehending an individual emotions’, intentions, and moral

However, more recently, a study led by King’s College London has claimed that there are differences between the brains of psychopaths and other criminal offenders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nigel Blackwood who led the research is quoted as saying “We describe those without psychopathy as 'hot-headed' and those with psychopathy as ‘cold-hearted’.” This statement shows a clear distinction between what should be interpreted as a lack of self-control and ability to repress impulses and what should be diagnosed as psychopathy.
The study took MRI scans of 66 men, two thirds of which were offenders who had been diagnosed with antisocial personality whilst the other third were non-offenders considered to not have any personality disorders. Of the 44 offenders, 17 met the diagnosis criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P) assessed by the guidelines stated in the DSM-IV. Researchers saw that the members of the study diagnosed as psychopaths had notably less grey matter in areas associated with moral behaviour and understanding other peoples’

Psychopaths have been around for more than a century, and have found themselves to be able to make the public fear them. Belle Gunness, the Zodiac Killer, and John Wayne Gacy are all examples for the character traits compatible with psychopathy and have been able to provide more reason to the research of psychopaths. Statistically, psychopathy is found in three percent of the male population and in one percent of one percent of the female population. A psychopath’s behavior of exploitation, lying, recklessness, and arrogance has been studied to further understand how their brain structure is different in MRI scans and how they are able to use special abilities to catch its victims. Many research studies have been able to provide more information

The most common traits associated with antisocial personality disorder are general cognitive and emotional dysfunction, especially in regards to callousness, manipulation and shallow affect. This study examined specific brain functioning tendencies of both mentally healthy participants and patients diagnosed with psychopathy by comparatively analyzing their facial emotion processing. The comparison allowed researchers to determine the relationship between psychopathological tendencies in relevance to patterns of responses. Generally, people diagnosed with psychopathy demonstrate reduced autonomic responses to expressions of distress or sadness, which in turn leads

In all humans’ brains, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the determining factor for empathy, morals, and emotions. The problem comes when the PFC is damaged, which causes alterations in the mental state. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health reveals that the damage to this part of the brain is due to reduced structural integrity and less activity in the PFC, determined by diffusor tensor images (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Because doctors determine the behavioral integrity of a person by the function of their PFC, it is the main focus for determining psychopathic tendencies (“Psychopaths’ Brain Show Differences in Structure and Function”). So psychiatrists are now able to examine an MRI of a brain and look at the prefrontal cortex to determine if they have a higher liability of having behavioral inconsistencies or psychopathic qualities, therefore providing a visual confirmation of a mental deformity. Robert M.

A good looking man in an expensive suite walks past a woman on the subway whistling a catchy tune. Many thoughts begin to run through her head, “He’s an important business man on his way to his next meeting.” Or “He’s a father on the way home from work.” As he stops she watches him read a news paper thinking how attractive and self composed he is. In the back of her head she’s wishing that he would speak to her. As she sits and hopes it seems that her wish is going to be answered. The young, attractive gentleman gets up and strides over taking the seat next to her. He introduces himself as Mr. Cromer and engages her in a charming conversation, sweeping her off her feet. In her head everything is going great, she has met the perfect man,

The researchers, based at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said the differences in psychopaths' brains mark them out even from other violent criminals with anti-social personality disorders (ASPD), and from healthy non-offenders. The study showed that psychopaths, who are characterised by a lack of empathy, had less grey matter in the areas of the brain important for understanding other people's emotions.

For example, a “relatively high proportion of criminals meet the criteria for psychopathy, a condition that is associated with frequent acts of deception and with alterations in both structural MRI and fMRI studies” (Farah et al., 2014). Furthermore, we also need to account for individual differences in the neural systems involved in lying (Farah et al., 2014). For now, we should stick to more reliable structural neuroimaging technology, such as MRI or CT scans, as evidence to support that someone has suffered brain trauma and disease and may not be culpable of their actions (Moriarty,

Due to its primary role in processing memory and emotional reactions, over the last decade and a half psychologists have been linking the amygdala to psychopathy. It is involved in aversive conditioning and instrumental learning and is thus involved in all the processes that, when impaired, produce the same functional impairments displayed by psychopaths. Two famous studies conducted by Tiihonen and Kiehl respectively have confirmed this. Tiihonen used a volumetric MRI to test and confirm the positive correlation between low amygdaloid volume and a high degree of psychopathy in violent criminals (measured by the Hare checklist-revised) while Kiehl used a functional MRI to prove reduced amygdala response during an emotional memory task in individuals who scored high on the Hare checklist-revised. However, both these studies along with numerous others were conducted using violent offenders as subjects rather than individuals with psychopathy. Although many psychopaths do exhibit violent tendencies, not all violent offenders are necessarily psychopaths. A study conducted by Raine is one of the few that did focus only on individuals exhibiting psychopathy. In his study Raine was able to show reduced prefrontal grey matter in his test subjects. Unfortunately though, he was unable to differentiate between grey matter in different regions of the prefrontal cortex. It is however clear that there is one region of the frontal cortex that could be

The term sociopath is commonly used to describe someone who suffers from antisocial personality disorder. The afflicted often have no sense of what is wrong and what causes emotional grief, or have lack of a conscience. Studies and brain scans have been conducted on these arguably unlucky few, and there is a clear difference between the diagnosed and undiagnosed. Brain activity is decreased in the lower frontal lobe and orbital cortex, which is thought to be associated with emotions and impulses. Here we see that whether or not a person “has a conscience” depends on only a few chemical reactions that take place in the

What’s has research done to explain why psychopaths or the way they are? There are a lot of theories behind what makes a psychopath, some theories are based on research and some are based on what people have seen and what they have concluded from that. The human brain is a complex thing and all the studies that have been read for this topic show that although the brain is complex a psychopath is not. Scientist and doctors have been doing research and tests since the 60’s, they’ve done shock experiments they’ve done personality evaluations. There are a lot of traits that can point out a psychopath, certains things they do and the way they act. Research has always said that illness is definitely part of being psychopathic, which leads one to