Free Murderous Minds by Dean Haycock Page B

Institute of Mental Health proposed that a deficit or deficits in the function and interaction of the vmPFC and the amygdala provides an explanation for the development of psychopathy. 29 His suggestion is based on brain scanning and psychological testing results of psychopathic individuals that researchers have been gathering for at least two decades. It is supported by observations that the vmPFC plays a highly influential role in decision-making processes. It is also supported by the knowledge that the amygdala’s role goes beyond processing fear and driving aggression. In addition to processing emotional expressions, the amygdala plays an important role in forming associations between a stimulus and a reward, and between a stimulus and a punishment.
    Rounding Up the Usual Suspects
    But brain-imaging studies have suggested that associations appear to exist between multiple brain regions and psychopathy. In addition to theamygdala and the vmPFC, other regions of the frontal lobes as well as the hippocampus, thalamus, basal ganglia, cingulate cortex, insula, and parts of the temporal lobe all appear to function differently in psychopaths. This has led Kent Kiehl to propose a paralimbic dysfunction model to explain the development of psychopathy. 30 It proposes that decreased activity in, and underdevelopment of, a group of closely interconnected brain structures that form a ring around the inside, center of the brain (see Figure 10) can account for the characteristic features of psychopathy. He calls it the paralimbic model because it includes structures that formally belong to the limbic system and some that are closely associated with it.
    The paralimbic model is similar to the model Jim Fallon proposed based on his unpublished research. He believes the deficits seen in psychopaths: imperfect communication between the amygdala, orbital/ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and mostly anterior cingulate cortex are intimately involved in psychopathic behavior. Fallon’s work, he said, “was based on case studies. Some [of the subjects] were impulsive murderers. Some were psychopaths. It was kind of a mixed bag. I was just putting together what I thought might be true. Kent really did the scientific study. I took a guess that turned out to be pretty good.” 31 If it was a guess, it certainly was not a wild guess. His model is consistent with others that imply psychopathy is a developmental disorder.
    It is possible, of course, that there is more than one way to develop a psychopath. Problems during development may result in different flaws or physical deficits in different individuals but still produce behaviors we call psychopathic. While it is still not possible to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between brain abnormalities and psychopathic behavior, 32 the correlations that have been established so far—combined with what we know about the psychological effects of brain injuries in patients—strongly suggest that the answers do indeed hide in the dark regions of the brain that appear on fMRI scans.

Chapter Eight
    Successful, Unsuccessful, and Other Types of Psychopaths
    T HE NEW JOB AND THE NEW LIFE start today. It’s the beginning of a career that will present new experiences and new challenges. And it will involve face-to-face encounters with people like you have never faced before. Last month you left San Francisco and drove 225 miles south to Atascadero, California, where you signed a lease for your new apartment. The next day, you unpacked. The day after that, you drove over to the Atascadero State Hospital to have a look. This is where you’ll work in exchange for a $40,700 annual stipend and necessary experience in preparation for your budding career in forensic psychology.
    Although it was established sixty years ago, this maximum-security forensic hospital looks nothing like the snake pits people associated with psychiatric hospitals in the first half of the 20th century. In daylight, the pinkish