Sociopaths; Can We Stop it Before it Starts?

Neuroscience in the court, too late, too early on time?

Dr. Gur, enthusiastic to say the least, gave a very interesting presentation of how neuroscience is presented in the courtroom. Although much of Dr. Gur’s presentation was a review to those in the room, it was clear that this man was passionate about neuroscience. In the midst of his talk however he may have overlooked answering the question he posed at the beginning of his lecture through design or error this open ended presentation gave me the opportunity to discuss it in a variety of ways.

In Dr. Gur’s career he has diagnosed a few patients but most notably was the infamous letter bomber who Dr. Gur concluded suffered from schizophrenia. But what drives a person to become a serial killer or a psychopath and how can we catch it. More importantly once we do catch it, what exactly do we do with this knowledge? Many believe that psychopathy is a genetic disorder that could possibly be detected almost as easily as Autism. But once we have this information do we end the problem at the source or do we take the chance and see how the child turns out; it is hard to tackle the question without falling into eugenic like practices.

So you say your child is a psychopath?

  In an article by Jennifer Kahn in the New York Times entitled “Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?” we track the development and symptoms of Michael who after a battery of tests and misdiagnosis is believed to be a child psychopath. Michael’s mood often turns on a dime and his response to irritating stimuli is eccentric and violent but very goal oriented. The article discusses other examples of child psychopathology emphasizing the apparent lack of empathy and fear of repercussions. In theory we can observe the brains of these children and see deficiencies in the amygdala and other related areas of the brain that cause the children to exhibit an absence of empathy. However no official diagnosis is available for childhood psychopathy because it is not easy to distinguish developing brains from those of mentally ill patients and even harder to distinguish between questionable behaviors in adolescences.

So what is next?

First off it is important to note that psychopathy in children does not exist what does exist is referred to as “callous-unemotional” and although not full blown psychopaths they do exhibit characteristics like a lack of affect, remorse or empathy which puts them at risk for becoming psychopaths and had been determined to be 80% heritable.  But the question still remains how can we help these children develop into functioning members of society? Dan Waschbusch, a researcher at Florida International University, has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to understanding the patterns of development in callous-unemotional children. He hopes that treatment could be used to help these children avoid becoming psychopaths. Researchers have linked these abnormal behaviors to low levels of cortisol and amygdala deficiencies, as well as deformities in the portion of the brain that are responsible for fear and shame. “The desire to avoid those unpleasant feelings, Waschbusch notes, is part of what motivates young children to behave.”  These children however do not feel this remorse and so act very manipulatively without consideration for others wellbeing and this is what makes them extremely difficult to treat.

 Callous-unemotional children respond to treatment much like sociopaths do, in that they do not take punishment well but show signs of improvement if rewards are given for good behavior. However the tendency to manipulate the system is high and often actions escalate in a premeditated fashion if the child decides to not participate any longer. So although no clear method for treating these at risk children exists Waschbusch states that “People are worried about labeling, but if we can identify these kids, at least we have a chance to help them...And if we miss that chance, we might not get another one.” However much like other researchers he believes that developing treatments for these children is possible and considering that C.U. children have a 50/50 shot of developing into full blown psychopaths some sort of treatment is a must.  Frick another researcher believes “If treatment is begun early enough… it may be possible to rewire the brain so that even C.U. children might develop greater empathy”. Considering the plasticity of the developing brain it seems likely that environmental influences like “ warm, affectionate parenting seems to reduce callousness in C.U. kids over time”

Works cited

Kahn, Jennifer. "Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?" New York Times Magazine. New York TImes, 11 May 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/magazine/can-you-call-a-9-year-old-a-psychopath.html?pagewanted=all&_r=4&>.