Impulsive, anti-social, lack of empathy and remorse, or eccentric personality; all these characteristics could describe someone who suffers from psychopathy. This mental disease is underlined by brain impairments and it seems that a recent research is helping to understand this disorder.
Brains of psychopaths seem to show differences in their structure and function compared to healthy brains. This is shown by a study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and published in The Journal of Neuroscience. A mobile functional magnetic resonance images scanner was brought to a prison where 40 inmates participated in the experimentation; 20 of them had psychopathy and 20 did not. Images showed reduced reliability in the connections between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, the two brain areas respectively involved in empathy and guilt, and fear and anxiety. In addition, the activity between these two regions were also affected and showed a lack of coordination. According to Joseph Newman, a psychology professor and one of the researchers who worked on the research, the combination of structural and functional abnormalities in this specific brain circuitry is a constant in psychopaths prisoners.
This study provides good elements to help understand the neuronal basis of psychopath behavior and learn how to treat this type of disorder. Moreover, it could facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of inmates.
Sources: or Newswise