Psychopaths' Brains Wired to Seek Rewards, No Matter the Consequences

[The Straight Story]

Psychopaths' Brains Wired to Seek Rewards, No Matter the Consequences

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — The brains of psychopaths appear to be wired to keep seeking a reward at any cost, new research from Vanderbilt University finds. The research uncovers the role of the brain's reward system in psychopathy and opens a new area of study for understanding what drives these individuals.

"This study underscores the importance of neurological research as it relates to behavior," Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said. "The findings may help us find new ways to intervene before a personality trait becomes antisocial behavior."

The results were published March 14, 2010, in Nature Neuroscience.

"Psychopaths are often thought of as cold-blooded criminals who take what they want without thinking about consequences," Joshua Buckholtz, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology and lead author of the new study, said. "We found that a hyper-reactive dopamine reward system may be the foundation for some of the most problematic behaviors associated with psychopathy, such as violent crime, recidivism and substance abuse."

Previous research on psychopathy has focused on what these individuals lack -- fear, empathy and interpersonal skills. The new research, however, examines what they have in abundance -- impulsivity, heightened attraction to rewards and risk taking. Importantly, it is these latter traits that are most closely linked with the violent and criminal aspects of psychopathy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100314150924.htm

[Initech]

1. They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky...

[The Straight Story]

2. "..The george bush family." (just wanted to finish your song)

:)

[Motown_Johnny]

4. ^insert^ they're all dumber than Wookies

[mzmolly]

12. Hey that was good.

:hi:

[roguevalley]

13. when you can't feel shame or empathy, you will do whatever it takes.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Typical conservative behavior

both in what they lack and in what they have in abundance. You don't have to be a psychopath to be a conservative, but I find it highly unlikely to find a liberal who exhibits those qualitites...unless it's a psychopath who's running a scam on people by feigning a liberal attitude, that is.

[Echo In Light]

5. Authoritarian Personality

- excessive conformity
- submissiveness to authority
- intolerance
- insecurity
- superstition
- ridged, stereotyped thought patterns

The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders, their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folktales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized of as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic- the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) Vs. absolute wrong (the "other" whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)

[Echo In Light]

6. Official Culture - A Natural State of Psychopathy?

http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/official_culture.htm

[patrice]

7. So, "consequences", does that include even when others have to die, so that I can feel

the reward associated with something referred to as "meaning" in my life?

[Echo In Light]

9. Generally, those who read competition into everything haven't any moral qualms ....

... with the notion that the 'win' comes at another's expense ... others are worse and actually get off on it.

[Triana]

8. George W. bu$h. n/t

[Echo In Light]

10. Bump

[Quantess]

11. interesting.

[azul]

14. Maybe have corporate persons declared insane psychopaths?

And give them shock treatments until they change their charters, since they have no next of kin to stop it.

[RainDog]

15. fun boy three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aItpjF5vXc

The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum