Published on 18 May 2022

The Psychopathic Brain: New Insight

Medscape (US)

Structural brain differences appear to distinguish psychopaths from individuals without psychopathic traits, new research shows. Using MRI, researchers found that the striatum was about 10% larger on average in adults with psychopathic traits than in matched control persons and that this relationship was mediated by stimulation seeking and impulsivity. The striatum is a subcortical region of the forebrain involved in the cognitive processing of reward-related information and motivational aspects of behaviour.

"Our study's results help advance our knowledge about what underlies antisocial behaviour such as psychopathy," co-author and neurocriminologist Olivia Choy with NTU in Singapore, said in a news release. "In addition to social environmental influences, it is important to consider that there can be differences in biology, in this case, the size of brain structures, between antisocial and non-antisocial individuals," Choy added.

Read the article here. 

Similar report in MDedge on 19 May.

Photo: Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

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