Empathy In Brain Networks

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

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’

In fact,because psychopaths are not able to feel empathy involuntarily, they are able to turn the feeling on. It is very common for psychopaths to have “ a false belief in their own superiority, a sense of entitlement and a complete disregard for social norms” (Paula, year). Psychopathy had recently been changed into ‘antisocial personality disorder’ in the updated version of the FBI’s mental health book, DSM-III. It was changed for the reason of the personality not always being reliable, as well as psychopathy symptoms crossing over antisocial personality disorder symptoms. Another reason for the change was because it is believed that focusing on behavior instead of the why helped identify the disorder easier. The new research was highly and widely discussed among many physicians because some felt unsure of the change, but they were also for the change with consideration of the evidence that was found. The usual psychopath is not found to be violent. If they are violent, they are considered more dangerous than others and will most likely reoffend sooner and worse than the first time. Between psychopaths and non psychopaths, psychopaths have a longer criminal history which varies in crimes. Their patterns are unique when compared to a non psychopath, but due to their inability to have emotion, they are able to be more observant on their next chosen

Mirror neurons have a significant influence on empathy. Empathy has seen a societal increase in interest in recent years. Many people have seen and/or participated in what is called “Random Acts of Kindness.” This is where you do something nice for someone and they are supposed to pay it forward. This causes the mirror neurons in your brain to fire off and make you feel as though you have an obligation to pay it forward when there is no actual obligation at all.

Overall, it was, in my opinion, a great reading. I was impressed how I have heard the term psychopathy, but it is startling how complex this personality disorder is. Of course, as the reading mentioned, oftentimes psychopaths are portrayed as cold-blooded, serial killers, etc. Indubitably, this might happen in some cases but the complexity it implies to determine if an individual is a psychopath is far beyond the reach a non-professional psychologist or psychiatrist. Therefore, this is the most interesting and surprising aspect of the reading and psychopathy itself, how hard it to identify a psychopath. In addition, the ways it is presented to people, not only by their personality traits and behavior but their ability to appear as charming

Scans have shown that psychopathic brains appear to be different than normal brains, the level of activity going on in their brains appears to be varying from a normal brain.

Psychopaths are unable to put themselves in the shoes of another person. They are unable to understand the feelings of another person. The author of the article” Psychopathy, Sociopathy and Crime” David Lykken, stated that, “the psychopath is characterized by a lack of the restraining effect of conscience and of empathetic concern for people”(Lykken 3). In another interview Hare had with a female psychopath, she had allowed her boyfriend to molest her five year old daughter. She simply did not want to have sex that night and believed it was fine to let him have her daughter.

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.

Hare could not definitively conclude that either ones’ biological factors or social forces made a person a psychopath, he rather believed it is an interplay between the both and their ability to make emotional connection, is greatly reduced (p. 173). He affirmed that psychopaths are difficult if not impossible to treat, because they themselves believe that they have no psychological or emotional problems. When Dr. Hare’s prison experience was over he continued his profession of psychiatry, he postulated that a psychopath is not only for prisoners but for all people. One of my reactions to this book was the Psychopathy Checklist, which Dr. Hare created as a tool for discovering psychopaths are egocentric and have no feelings of empathy, guilt or remorse.

Serial killers often commit murder for some sort of psychological benefit. As research continues in the studying of the brain of serial killers, it is safe to say that they (serial killers) have some form of brain abnormalities. Biologically speaking, Neuroscientists have discovered that a psychopath’s brain has a noticeably thinner tissue in the subcortical areas. If this tissue is damaged, or even possibly underdeveloped, then that person may have a decreased ability to process feelings or even link emotional value to certain experiences. This explains a great deal about a psychopath’s behaviour and why they have difficulty feeling different emotions. With regards to psychopaths, a weak paralimbic system leads to the weakening of their ego

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

In the book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D Hare, the author described how those diagnosed with this have little capacity for seeing the consequences of their behavior (Hare 77). Psychopaths exhibit extreme emotions or none at all, and their function processing is slower than that of a person with little to no psychopathic tendencies.

In this article Matthew Taylor discusses experiments conducted by Dr. Kent Kiehl, a neuroscientist of the University of Mexico. Dr. Kiehl believes that psychopaths are the way they are due to an illness in their brain. He believes it is controversial to label a psychopath as evil, when he views “Psychopaths as someone who us suffering from a disorder” (Kiehl). Furthermore, Dr. Kiehl conducted a brain scan on Brian Dungan, an infamous serial killer responsible for the death of three young girls. As he conducted his experiment Dr. Keihl explains that Brian’s brain “has very low levels of density in a system we call the para-limbic system” (Kiehl). The para-limbic system is commonly known as the amygdala, which is a part of the brain in the pre-frontal cortex. This area is associated with the processing of emotions. Furthermore, Kiehl states that psychopaths simply lack an emotional ability, much the same as other lack intellectual ability. Kiehl describes how he spoke with Dugan and discovered that he has no concept of the harm that he caused. Kiehl states that “Talking about his crimes, is like asking him what he had for breakfast” (Kiehl). Overall the neuroscientist concluded, that individuals are born psychopaths, however, should not be labelled as evil because they suffer from a mental

There is one more thing that leads to psychopathic behaviour and that's traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sometimes, especially in an early age. if the brain is injured, this can disrupt the development of the emotional and moral centres of the brain. The literally lose the ability to tell right from wrong. Head injuries can even change

It is estimated that 1% of the population is psychopathic and yet, they commit more than 50% of serious crimes and their crime recidivism is three times more likely than other criminals (how to create a psychopath). It is irrefutable that despite the fact that psychopaths do not comprise much of the population, they are dangerous and menacing to society. Their crimes are callous and gruesome, and often have a profound impact on society as psychopaths prey on as many people as they can, particularly vulnerable people, until they satisfy their needs. They cannot seem to distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions. To them, everything is conventional. They have little or no morality due to the fact that their frontal lobe is malfunctioning and fails to restrain them from harming someone or committing a crime. Justice provides a security blanket for all members of society. They desire that sense of safety and knowledge that the world is in order. Psychopaths walk among us and some are dangerous which causes a dilemma for society whether to lock them up and achieve justice for society or allow them to roam freely to achieve justice for psychopaths as a minority. Psychopaths continue to pose a threat to society primarily due to the fact that they suffer from a severe personality disorder that may cause them to act on their malicious whims at any time. Psychopaths seem less threatening to society when they are out of sight and locked away.