Find the differences in the brains of the most dangerous people on the planet

Among the prisoners about 20% are psychopaths. By the age of 40 these guys committed an average of four barbaric crimes. In the 3 years after being released from prison, about 80% of them become repeat offenders.

Scientists try to discover the differences in their brains from ordinary people, and what makes an ordinary person a serial killer.

Lack of gray matter and white matter

American neuroscientist James Fallon has studied for decades the brains of psychopaths and the most barbaric killers using MRI magnetic resonance imaging. He noted that, unlike healthy people, the orbital cortex of inactive psychopaths . The orbital cortex contains the gray matter above the roof of the eye, responsible for life skills, ethics, decision-making, and control of impulses and aggression.

But, this is not the only factor that makes ordinary people a serial killer. The decisive factor is mental trauma, memories of childhood violence , scientists believe.

An example of this is Mr. James Fallon himself. In his book "The Psychopath Inside" about a neuroscientist's personal journey into the dark side of the brain, he admitted: "in your family there have been murderers in the distant past, because So he did research on himself and his relatives, and it turned out that his brain, like that of a serial killer, also had a tendency to be violent. of the scientist was very happy, he was not subject to violence, psychological pressure ".

Mental trauma is one of the factors that turns a rewarder into a serial killer.

Previous studies have shown that psychopaths who react poorly to photos often cause intense feelings. There is a theory that these people have underdeveloped tonsils - small areas of the brain's white matter, where emotional information is processed. In 2001, neuroscientist Kent Kiehl at the University of New Mexico confirmed this assumption by using the fMRI brain scan.

Kiehl and his colleagues used fMRI to study the brains of 903 mental prisoners. In an article published in March this year, scientists noted not only that the brain parts responsible for poor emotional functioning, but also the weak nerve connections between the brain parts. control emotions like empathy, guilt, fear, anxiety. There are typical physiological characteristics - egotism, callousness, cruelty. Prisoners' brains with these characteristics clearly have structural anomalies.

Nervous card of serial killer

In the world population psychopaths account for only about 1%, but the percentage of murder-rapists among them is much higher. In addition, these guys tend to commit crimes many times.

Among the rapists - mass murderers are psychopaths. They are well aware of what they are doing, aware of the actual situation. Some killers act impulsively when the opportunity arises, others plan, track down the victim, hide the trace. They mimic the behavior of a normal member of society, sometimes with families and children, such as Andrei Chikatilo , one of the most barbaric and well-studied serial killers in the world. gender.

Andrei Chikatilo - the savage serial killer.

Mass murderers often have intelligence, but there is absolutely no emotional connection with others. They often suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder, control over others, and tend to be violent. They kill because they like it and don't feel guilty or regret.

It is thought that the brains of mass murderers have organic changes. For example, researchers from the University of California compare serial killers with people with epilepsy: an increase in neurological activity in the sufferer's brain leads to seizures, and in the case of with mentally ill people leading to murders.

After building the mathematical neurological model of the Chikatilo brain, the scientists created the mathematical formula "Devil's Stair" - a graph of the number of murders over time, from which it became clear, frantic behavior is increasing, the gap between crimes is shortened.

Scientist Philip Chassy from Liverpool Hope University (UK) said that certain action plans to respond to sexual fantasies cause a strong emotional explosion encoded in the killer's brain. series - and madmen are waiting for this as a reward.

Reportedly, the criminals know how to deceive the Polygraph to detect lies, they can eliminate signs of external stimulation: heart rate, conduction through the skin. But, they are incapable of controlling brain activity, Mr. Chassy noted, so the brain scan method could reveal the "nerve card" of a serial killer - while stimulating brain regions with the mind. Remember to autobiography regulate sexual pleasure, hunt for prey and control emotions.

Breivik factor

Not all psychopaths or victims of childhood violence become serial killers. There are a number of other factors leading to tragic consequences for individuals and societies. Scientists from England and Sweden think that these could be head injuries, various mental and mental disorders, for example, autism spectrum disorders .

The link between autism and criminal inclination is being actively studied after the massacre committed by Anders Breivik in 2011, a fairly prosperous citizen. Some psychologists believe that Breivik has the signs and symptoms of Asperger 's syndrome . Unlike autism, people with Asperger's syndrome still have intelligence.

Assassin Anders Breivik.

Experts analyzed records of 239 barbaric killers arrested after 1985, including 48 repeat offenders and 58 serial killers. Of those, only 10% have autism spectrum disorder and 10% have a head injury. According to the authors of the study, those factors may play a role in the formation of criminals, but, only when combined with social and biological causes.

Research jobs for serial killers are in the early stages, but scientists have gathered a lot of information. It is clear that this phenomenon cannot be explained by just one factor: mental development disorder, brain injury, memory of childhood violence or genetic factors, for example, by possession. The 'warrior gene' MAOA has been linked to violent crime in men. The cause and consequences are still unclear - brain development disorders lead to violent behavior or vice versa, social factors, family negatively affect the formation of brain parts. Further research will help identify individuals who tend to become mass murderers to promptly stop criminal acts.

1. Explain why mass murderers are often commented by neighbors as docile
2. Find the main difference between the brains of normal people and murderers