Ahem_Sure

It seems like it is more than just genes and culture? MRI scans show brain abnormalities. "The study found that ASPD+P offenders displayed significantly reduced grey matter volumes in the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex and temporal poles compared to ASPD-P offenders and healthy non-offenders."

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/05/11/scans-show-psychopaths-have-brain-abnormalities/38540.html

Edit: meant for this to go into our existing discussion rather than a new post. Thanks for answering again.

I know the most sure fire way to create a psychopath is by hitting a kid on the head with a swing seat, but is it possible with drugs?

The swing set joke was in regard to many serial killers suffering that same injury (Gacy and many others, curiously, were all hit in the head as kids and several recall being hit badly on a swing set).

I thought that damage to a certain part of the brain was thought to have contrubuted to several infamous psychopaths lack of empathy (Gacy, Pichushkun, Henry Lee Lucas, etc). Not that it's the lone cause obviously.

Edit: the drug question was mostly regarding possible connections between drugs like SSRIs and mass murders/domestic violence. If psychopathy is more like a syndrome than a specific mental illness, couldn't it be drug induced?

2nd edit: From what I have read a psychopaths brain scan reads a lot like someone with a frontal head injury. Are you saying being a paychopath is dependent on how you got to that mental state and people who achieved a lack of empathy via gead injury aren't actual paychopaths?

Okay. I get where you are coming from. I just presumed since the injured individuals were children that the damage caused the psychopathy, but i guess it's possible they were prepubescent, but destined for psychopathy and the damage just added a lack of control. Could go either way i guess.

As for the drug induced psychopathic behaviour though, I didn't mean damage a psychopathic brain to the point of creating a killer. I was just wondering if a psychopath could be created whether or not they act out criminally.

Thanks for replying (more than once even)!

Ha. I was thinking the same thing. Psychopath creating psychopaths, until they realize they have created more competition. Army of potential back stabbers.

Edit: Yeah i have seen addicts that subdue their conscience via little permissions until they are bordering on psychopathic behaviour, but then once sober and in rehab many emotions come flooding back.