¶ … Orbitofrontal Cortex and the Serial Killer
According to Portales, "what lies behind the eyes" of the serial killer "is the key to his psychopathy." The orbitofrontal cortex is the neural region directly behind the eyes and is the last to develop. Portales quotes authoritative research that, due to childhood traumatic experiences, in some individuals the ortbitofrontal cortex -- the tool judgment and decision making -- may never completely develop: "individuals who have had damage to [this] area can observe social situations, but fail to respond to these situations in an appropriate manner." Damage can be caused through various factors including head trauma, physical abuse, emotional neglect, and antisocial parenting, many, if not all of these, introduced early in the child's development. What happens as a result is stagnated prefrontal development where emotion overrules reasoning and individuals give in to their craving.
In the case of the sexual predator, for instance, the phenylethylamine (PEA), a neurotransmitter that normally creates the romantic rush felt upon attraction,...
Brain Factors That Influence Psychopathy Psychopathy is among the conditions that burden the performance of most global states in the current contemporary society. A variety of factors causes psychopathy. The factors include biological, environmental, and brain factors. Psychopathy presents with different symptoms including, violence, deceitfulness, aggression, irresponsibility, lack of guilt, and impulsiveness among other symptoms associated with it. Significant researches conducted in the past have failed to create an understanding of
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