Psychopath
From BurnZero
The defining book of mental disorders is called the DSM-5 where psychopathic features are characterized by "a lack of anxiety or fear and by a bold interpersonal style that may mask maladaptive behaviors (e.g., fraudulence)." These features can be quantified by various psychometric tests including:
- Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R)
- Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM)
- Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA)
Cause
In neuroscience it is thought that psychopathy is related to a dysfunction in the amygdala[1][2][3]. This is a part of the brain which regulates emotions[4].
- ↑ Weber, S., Habel, U., Amunts, K., & Schneider, F. (2008). Structural brain abnormalities in psychopaths a review. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 26(1), 7–28.
- ↑ Anderson, N. E., & Kiehl, K. A. (2012). The psychopath magnetized: Insights from brain imaging. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 52–60.
- ↑ Blair, R. (2008). The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: Functional contributions and dysfunction in psychopathy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363(1503), 2557–2565.
- ↑ Fallon, J. (2013). The psychopath inside: A neuroscientist’s personal journey into the dark side of the brain. New York: Penguin.