A lack of emotion isn’t the only thing driving psychopaths. It now seems that their brains may overvalue the pleasure associated with getting what they want. In extreme psychopaths, this may result in callous and manipulative acts.
Joshua Buckholtz, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, discovered that the brains of people with psychopathic tendencies are rich with dopamine, a “reward” chemical that makes us seek out pleasure.
This might drive psychopathic behaviour by encouraging people to pursue activities that give them this kind of reward at the expense of considering the costs of their actions – such as hurting others.
Submitted by Darrell H