'For 20 years, I have been speaking one-to-one with people with psychopathic traits in forensic psychiatric institutions and prisons without direct supervision from guards in the same room. And during that time, I had never had a single incident.' Brazil begins.
How could we help Hannibal Lecter?
Anyone who has seen “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Se7en”, or “American Psycho” knows for sure: psychopaths are pure evil, life-threatening, and should be locked up forever. Cognitive neuroscientist Inti Brazil's research proves otherwise. So-called psychopaths are not pure evil but mainly have trouble adapting their destructive behaviour. This is because their brains work differently.
But, of course, such an environment does not reflect reality. In real life, you may need only to look at a person with psychopathic traits the wrong way to evoke an extreme reaction. Does that one second where someone crosses the line mean that person is always looking for ways to harm? Brazil begs to differ and shows something meaningful with his research: people with psychopathy do not engage in destructive behaviour every moment of the day, as films would like us to believe.
Some people have become this way, and others are naturally inclined to be
When do you qualify as a “psychopath”?
THE psychopath, like Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs (1991), only exists in films. 'Moreover, the term psychopath encourages a wrong and negative image,' Brazil says. He prefers to speak of (extreme) antisocial behaviour or people with psychopathic characteristics. Among other things, they feel little to no guilt, have difficulty with empathy, and often act out of self-interest. Throwing your rubbish on the street when you know you shouldn't is already a form of antisocial behaviour. But you wouldn't easily say these people have psychopathic tendencies.
Why do people behave antisocially?
'Some people have become this way, and others are naturally inclined to be,' Brazil explains. In any case, people with psychopathic traits struggle to process information that allows them to modify their behaviour. 'Some have already been detained 10 times and still lapse into antisocial behaviour,' Brazil clarifies.
Only one per cent of the Dutch population has been diagnosed with extreme forms of psychopathy.
In addition, their emotional perceptions get in the way of making rational choices. If you cannot process your emotions properly or misinterpret those of others, anger is often the easiest emotion for your brain, with all its consequences. This is how, in a more extreme form, it also works in the brains of people with psychopathic traits.
What happens in the brain?
It's time to take a closer look at this brain activity. 'We now know that people with psychopathic traits have weaker than average connections between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex,' says Brazil. The amygdala is a pair of nodules deep in the brain that deal with emotions and behaviour. For example, it triggers a fight-or-flight response during danger and helps recognise social cues such as body language and facial expressions. The prefrontal cortex enables you to regulate impulsive and emotional reactions and make (difficult) choices. So, if the bridge between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex does not work correctly, you can suddenly react disproportionately to an everyday situation.
An example: The supermarket
Picture a person with psychopathic traits who’s at the supermarket, ready to pay. Suddenly, someone cuts to the front of the line. At that moment, the amygdala, a key player in our emotional responses, kicks in. The feeling of threat or frustration sparked by the line-cutter activates a survival mechanism; now, their self-interest feels compromised. When a person feels angry, the prefrontal cortex may not effectively help manage that heightened arousal, allowing the anger to spiral out of control. In response to the perceived threat, the individual gets ready to act, and the likelihood of aggressive behaviour significantly increases. As a result, it’s not uncommon for the line-cutter to take a severe blow unexpectedly.
Only one per cent
Only one per cent of the Dutch population has been diagnosed with extreme forms of psychopathy. Yet, these people can cause enormous damage. 'Since it's difficult to design our society to eliminate the danger this once per cent pose, we will have to focus on ways to reduce their harmful behaviour,' Brazil says.
Algorithms and treatments
Brazil is therefore developing a computer algorithm that, based on data on the brain's information processing, can recognise the “problem areas” in people with psychopathic traits. 'With this, we can more easily choose treatments for each person that suits how that person processes information. For example, if someone does not learn from a penalty but is good at distributing attention, we should put less emphasis on treatments that improve concentration,' says Brazil.
Can we “psychopath-proof” our society?
We cannot fully “psychopath-proof” our society, but a more personalised approach offers hope. This approach will hopefully help us move towards a much more efficient and effective treatment route. In this way, we can reduce the harmful behaviour of people with psychopathic traits, and hopefully, they can even participate meaningfully in our society.
Inti Brazil at 'Universiteit van Nederland' (in Dutch)
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Contact information
- Contact
- Dr I.A. Brazil (Inti)
- Organizational unit
- Faculty of Social Sciences, Donders Centre for Cognition
- About person
- Dr I.A. Brazil (Inti)
- Theme
- Behaviour, Brain, Health & Healthcare