Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch

[Alan C.]

Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch

 

Psychopaths do not lack empathy, rather they can switch it on at will, according to new research.

Placed in a brain scanner, psychopathic criminals watched videos of one person hurting another and were asked to empathise with the individual in pain.

Only when asked to imagine how the pain receiver felt did the area of the brain related to pain light up.

Scientists, reporting in Brain, say their research explains how psychopaths can be both callous and charming.

The team proposes that with the right training, it could be possible to help psychopaths activate their "empathy switch", which could bring them a step closer to rehabilitation.

. . .

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by superficial charm, pathological lying and a diminished capacity for remorse.

Now scientists have found that only when asked to empathise did the criminals' empathy reaction, also known as the mirror system, fire up the same way as it did for the controls. Without instruction, they show reduced activity in the regions of the brain associated with pain.

This mirror system refers to the mirror neurons in our brain which are known to activate when we watch someone do a task and when we do it ourselves. They are thought to play a vital role in the ability to empathise with others.

 

[Pepin]

I am not really surprised because I feel like I have an empathy switch. Its default position seems to be off, and self-work and therapy has helped a lot in turning it on. I can't really characterize my behavior as psychopathic though.

 

Which makes me wonder if the same mechanism is being used by psychopaths and those with the lesser forms of autism, just with different results.

[Kawlinz]

wait... are these criminals currently in captivity, so to speak? because without being in captivity, they're in control of the switch. 

[Lens]

I think that psychopaths and narcissists lack empathy at their "normal" state. They may display empathy to lure their victims to see them as good and empathic as possible while the goal here is to get emotional supply or narcissistic supply and as much as they can get.

 

I have been in a relationship with a narcissitic person who displays a high trait of psychopathy and whenever he feels weak and needing nurturance he would come back and display all kind of good stuff meaning by that empathy, compassion and even servitude so I can take care of him and give what he lacked from his mom.

 

In my own opinion that switch is used to grant access to codependent people, people pleaser and so on.

 

And when questioned about their distructive behaviour these people (psychopaths and narcissists) can become very mean and destructive

 

Lens

[Alan C.]

They may display empathy to lure their victims to see them as good and empathic as possible while the goal here is to get emotional supply or narcissistic supply...

 

That's quite possible. Psychopaths/narcissists are known for being conniving, devious, and manipulative.