Psychology Treatment

Is the mind of the murderer different from the mind of ordinary people?

I remember Steven Pinker, who wrote "Language Instant" in his second book, Awakening of Angels in Human Nature, he studied the oldest spheres of life, violence. In this book, he makes the following argument: either to add to the total population of the country the rate of homicides and victims of war, or to use different statistical methods, the trend of violence in the last thousands of years has been reduced considerably . 

psychology treatment,

However, what he studies is the history of human violence, that is, it is a matter on the vertical axis of time. Today's article is in a sense a cross section: What changes in the minds of people who are victims of violence, especially violence against children? The murderer is a rare tragic figure. But what is leading some to murder? Michelle Moseley has been searching for the killer's brain.

Michelle Mosley.

In Italy, Dr. Cesar Lombroso is called the father of criminal science. In the 1870s, he studied prisoners in Turin (an Italian city). Dr. Cesare Lombroso from Italy is called the father of criminal science. They believe that criminals have stepped back down the evolutionary ladder and returned to ancient human or inhuman conditions. After years of research, he concluded that people can recognize criminals because their arms are unusually long like monkeys and their faces are very special. He wrote: "The ears of criminals are usually very large. Some thieves often have nostrils in the sky. Some thieves have very flat noses. Murder often bites the nose like a bird's beak." Unfortunately, investigations into possible murders soon ceased. Dr. Lambroso himself did not elaborate. His "scientific" discovery soon became a joke. However, research on whether criminals, especially murderers, have different brains than ordinary people has been going on for over a hundred years, and Dr. Lombroso's discovery is the beginning of this series of studies. In the 1980s, the invention of brain function scanning revolutionized our understanding of the inner workings of the brain. British neuroscientist Professor Ed Ryan conducted the first scan of the killers in California. He did not come to the Golden State because of the beautiful beaches, but because there are so many violent people who want to kill people.

Dr. Caesar Lomboroso and his head.

psychology treatment,

In previous years of research, Ryan and his team scanned the brains of many killers and found that almost all brains had the same difference. When comparing the brain scans of a normal person (left) and a murderer (right), what is not shown on the right is the prefrontal cortex, a brain tissue that can control itself. Active brain tissue will show warm colors (red, yellow) and vice versa, cool colors (blue, black) The area of ​​the prefrontal cortex that controls emotions in your brain is not active, while the area of ​​the amygdala that produces emotions is quite active.

But why is that?

The amygdala area in the brain is the area that produces emotions. Ryan's research suggests that this may be because he was abused as a child, because if the brain is traumatized, he is more likely to become a child killer. The prefrontal cortex that we mentioned earlier is very delicate. Among the prisoners Ryan scanned was Danbury Page, who killed a 24-year-old woman when she ran up to him and broke into her home. When Peggy was a child, her mother used to shake him, but when she got a little older, things got worse. Whether it was an electronic extension cord or shoes, her mother grabbed something and hit it. This type of beating is very common and Peggy is hunted once a day. "Among other things, physical injuries in childhood can damage the brain and can lead to Peggy's violent behavior," Ryan said. But after all, due to childhood misfortune, only a small number of people grew up as murderers. Are there other factors that make a killer better? Danbury Page was physically abused when he was a child. In 1993, the study made a breakthrough. The findings come from a study of a Dutch family. Everyone in his family had a history of violence. Jane This gene can produce an enzyme called MAOA, which in turn can regulate the amount of neurotransmitters in emotional control. Therefore, if you do not have the MAOA gene or the variable is not active, you will become violent. This variable is the warrior gene. About 30% of people have this gene called warrior, but whether this gene is activated or not depends on.