Is it possible to explain the immoral behavior of psychopaths?

A new study shows that the behavior of psychopaths can be explained by the work of their brain: it turns out that they overestimate the immediate benefits that can result from their actions. In addition, their brains can block thoughts about the consequences of their potentially immoral actions.

How many psychopaths live among us

It is estimated that one percent of the population as a whole are psychopaths, while among prisoners there are about 25 percent. Among scientists who study psychopathy, it is commonly believed that people with this disorder are characterized by a lack of conscience or remorse, as well as impulsiveness and lack of self-control, inability to feel emotions, superficial charm and a grandiose sense of self-worth.

In 2011, studies were conducted according to which three quarters of psychopaths in prison were taken there because of violent offenses committed by them. Although not all psychopaths commit violence, they can act differently, using lies, deception and theft to achieve their goals.

"Psychopaths commit a huge number of crimes that harm both victims and society as a whole," said psychologist and neurologist Joshua Bakkholts of Harvard University.

Research psychopathy

For many years, research on psychopathy focused on emotions, in particular, on the idea that such people are cold-blooded super-predators who are not capable of feeling anything. In the new study, scientists decided to pay attention to the behavior of psychopaths.

"Regardless of the feelings experienced by psychopaths, their behavior is different from lack of self-control, so we are interested in neurology of this type of decision-making," said Bakholtz.

Work with prisoners

To carry out his research, Buckholtz and his colleagues used a mobile magnetic resonance scanner, with which they worked in several medium security prisons in the state of Wisconsin. They conducted a brain scan of 49 prisoners, while they took part in the test for satisfaction. In the course of this experiment, scientists asked prisoners to choose one option from the proposed ones: to get less money, but immediately, or more, but later. Also for these prisoners, the researchers conducted a test to assess their level of psychopathy.

results

Researchers say that prisoners who showed the maximum result in psychopathy detection tests showed greater activity in the ventral striatum - the region of the brain responsible for a quicker choice than those who had a lower level of psychopathy. As shown by previous studies, the ventral striatum is associated with the ability to evaluate various variants and their importance for humans.

In addition, scientists have found that the relationship that exists between the ventral striatum and a portion of the brain such as the ventral medial prefrontal cortex was much weaker in psychopaths than in ordinary people. Preliminary work has shown that the ventral medial prefrontal cortex is important for "imaginary time travel", that is, to ponder the consequences of future actions.

These data show that the antisocial behavior of psychopaths is due to the work of their brains, which forces them to overestimate the possible rewards that can be received immediately, and neglect future problems due to potentially immoral acts. In fact, the more deviations there were in the brains of prisoners in this regard, the serious crimes turned out for which they were convicted.

Will treatment help

"The model that psychopaths use to make decisions is not that different from the one used by people with disruptive behaviors such as drug abuse, compulsive overeating or addiction to gambling," Buckholz said. "Whatever the psychopaths are, for example, lack of emotion, our findings show that this disorder can be treated."

In the future, scientists will have to find out whether psychopaths can help improve the assessment of the consequences of their actions in the future, for example, by non-invasive brain stimulation or behavioral therapy.

The scientists detailed their findings in the July 5 issue of the journal Neuron.