Psychopaths: The Unholy Trinity

Psychopaths: The Unholy Trinity

Psychopathy is characterized as the inability to feel typical human emötions. Psychopaths are often remorseless and lack empathy and guilt. Psychopaths can be classified into one of three types: violent, non-violent and "pseudo" psychopaths. Regardless of classification, all psychopaths are identified according to Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). This neurometric assessment is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of psychopathy. However, according to recent neuroanatomical investigations, the etiology and brain activity in these three types of psychopathy appears to be divergent. For example, while an underactive amygdala appears to be involved in both violent and non- violent psychopaths, involvement of the oribitofrontal cortex, anterior cortices, bilateral lesions, and left inferior frontal gyrus is only shown in violent psychopathic offenders. In non-violent offenders, the damage to prefrontal structures was less severe and only posessed lesions on one hemisphere. While "pseudo" psychopaths possess many of the behavioral characteristics of psychopathy, it is associated with dysfunction of the frontal cortex caused by maturational underdevelopment or traumatic brain injury. Accordingly, I will argue that in light of recent neuroimaging findings, the three types of psychopathy should be considered, and classified as, distinct disease processes.