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A Psychopaths Brain
by Jaclyn Baldwin April 26, 2014

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Florida State University

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Psychopath. A person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. as defined by Oxford Dictionaries. A few traits of psychopaths tend to be that they are uncaring, overconfident, and selfish. Professionals use The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the DSM, to classify and diagnose various mental disorders including psychopaths. By use of todays technology, scientists are making remarkable discoveries regarding the brain. Studies on mental disorders are increasing. Within the last decade we have learned so much about these disorders and how to treat them. Researchers have worked relentlessly looking for neurological similarities between psychopaths as to better understand them. It took one doctor an incredible revelation to find what exactly it is. Neuroscientist James Fallon, hypothesized that if you took scans of serial killers brain you would find similarities, he was right. The scans showed dramatic differences in the frontal lobe of the brain which is linked to empathy, morality, and decision making. By coincidence he was doing another study on Alzheimers and had scans of his families' brains. Looking through the stack of his family members he found one scan that matched that of a serial killer. He found out that the scan that resembled the brain of a psychopath was indeed his own (Stromberg, 2013). James Fallon has never killed anyone or has a history of violence. He is however a self-!

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described Asshole. He is competitive and says things that rile people, but he never acts with physical violence. This brings out a more modern term Pro-social Psychopath which is someone who does not easily empathize but keeps their behavior in bounds. Fallons family line includes seven murderers, so it seems he was genetically meant to become a violent psychopath. But, he attributes his good outlook to his positive upbringing. A good home and loving family set him on a good path. Many debate Nature Vs. Nurture, but it seems that in this case it was both. Fallon had the more violent genes by nature but by nurture he was sheltered and given a good life. Scientists believe that if found early enough a child displaying violent psychopathic behavior can grow to be normal with the help of psychologists and a strong family foundation. Meanwhile, scientists understand that psychopaths are engineered differently. But what has eluded scientists for many years is exactly why their brains are different. We have come closer to the answer, this important discovery was founded by Christian Keysers Ph.D. Keysers has found that it comes down to one possible component: empathy. Keysers tested his idea and had convicted violent psychopaths go through a series of tests. He first had them watch a movie of people hurting each other while scanning their brain with an fMRI. He would be able to measure what parts of the brain are firing up at certain points and will be able to record the data. The study showed that the frontal cortex of the brain was much less active than the normal person (Keysers, !

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for others seemed to lack there of.

2013). The frontal cortex deals with emotions and therefore their ability to feel emotions

Valerie Gazzola, who was helping Keysers with the experiment, prompted that the subjects should watch the movie again, but first tell them to try and empathize with the victims. The results now came back normal. This shows that empathy is not the Go To route of feelings for psychopaths but that they can empathize if they want to(Keysers, 2013). This is an important note to take as it proves a reason as to how psychopaths are able to be treated and lead normal lives. They do this by making conscious decisions of what they should do and should not do. For the normal person empathy is the go to element, for a psychopath they do not empathize, they have to manually turn this switch on. It is not their basic instinct to feel for others who are going through pain. This makes them deadly. A psychopath reasons and calculates, they feel no empathy therefore no remorse for their wrong doings. In fact they see no wrong in what they do. A serial killers motive could be a wide range of things but the fact is, to them there is nothing morally stopping them. They believe nothing is wrong in what they do and they do it because they are driven to by their own want and compulsion. It should be known that not all psychopaths are violent. The ones who are violent do not feel remorse for their actions. In conclusion, psychology is a very interesting subject. There are many determining factors when it comes to diagnosis. In recent years scientists have made very !

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interesting discoveries on the human brain. Psychopaths can now be treated easier to help curb dangerous tendencies. This can be done through medication and therapy. With the aid of psychologists and watchful caretakers psychopaths can be cured from an early age and live a healthy, productive life.

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Reflection Letter This paper was very informative. For this paper I was able to research something that I find interesting and I really liked that. The topic I chose is complicated and required a lot of research, but because it was something I liked, the work load was not a problem. Right now Psychology is my minor, but I plan to use it a lot later in life. Therefore, this paper helped me to realize just how much I like that branch of psychology. The workshops were all very helpful and my classmates very knowledgeable. The examples you gave us were also helpful. Overall this paper helped me to refine my research abilities. This course was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. Thank you for being a great teacher!

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Source Page -Psychopath. (2014). Oxford University: Oxford dictionaries.from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/psychopath

-DSM-5. (2014). Virginia: American Phychiatric Association. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://www.dsm5.org/ProgressReports/Pages/Default.aspx

-Stromberg, J. (2013). The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was A Psychopath. SmithsonianMag.com. from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/theneuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/?no-ist

-Keysers. PhD., C. (2013). The Empathic Brain. N.p.: Psychology Today. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-empathic-brain/201307/inside-the-mind-psychopathempathic-not-always