Crime Traveller
No Result
View All Result
  
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Research

    Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

    We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

    Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

    Trending Tags

    • Neuroscience
    • Mental Health
    • Criminal Brain
    • Juvenile Crime
  • Psychology
    Image: Shutterstock

    Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

    The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

    Teenage psychopathy

    What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

    Trending Tags

    • Narcissism
    • Psychopathy
    • Profiling
    • Mental Health
    • Psychology
  • Family Violence

    Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

    O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

    O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

    Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

    Melanie McGuire

    A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

  • True Crime
    Justice For Helen Book Cover

    Helen’s Law: A Mother’s Long Fight For Justice

    Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 2]

    Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

    Trending Tags

    • Unsolved
    • Serial Murder
    • Documentaries
    • Guest Posts
  • Book Reviews

    Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

    Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

    Stephanie Scott

    United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

    Book Review: Reckless Speculation About Murder

    David Lazar by Robert Kalich: A Book of Truth Merged With Fiction

    An Interview with Dylan Howard: True Crime Books Release And The Truth Behind The Epstein Scandal

    Psychiatric Killings In The UK: Blood, Voices and Missed Appointments

    New True Crime Book Series from Skyhorse Publishing

    She’s So Cold: Murder, Accusations and the System That Devastated a Family

  • SPECIALS
    • CrimeConUK
    • Crime Spotlight
      Dr Sohom Das is host of the YouTube channel A Psych For Sore Minds

      A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

      How Prisons Are Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic

      Don`t Become a Victim: What Info Not To Share About Yourself Online

      How Altering Our Education System Can Help Us Reduce The Crime Level

      What You Should Do When You Become A Victim Of Carjacking

No Result
View All Result
Crime Traveller
  • Home
  • Research

    Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

    We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

    Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

    Trending Tags

    • Neuroscience
    • Mental Health
    • Criminal Brain
    • Juvenile Crime
  • Psychology
    Image: Shutterstock

    Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

    The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

    Teenage psychopathy

    What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

    Trending Tags

    • Narcissism
    • Psychopathy
    • Profiling
    • Mental Health
    • Psychology
  • Family Violence

    Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

    O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

    O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

    Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

    Melanie McGuire

    A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

  • True Crime
    Justice For Helen Book Cover

    Helen’s Law: A Mother’s Long Fight For Justice

    Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 2]

    Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

    Trending Tags

    • Unsolved
    • Serial Murder
    • Documentaries
    • Guest Posts
  • Book Reviews

    Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

    Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

    Stephanie Scott

    United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

    Book Review: Reckless Speculation About Murder

    David Lazar by Robert Kalich: A Book of Truth Merged With Fiction

    An Interview with Dylan Howard: True Crime Books Release And The Truth Behind The Epstein Scandal

    Psychiatric Killings In The UK: Blood, Voices and Missed Appointments

    New True Crime Book Series from Skyhorse Publishing

    She’s So Cold: Murder, Accusations and the System That Devastated a Family

  • SPECIALS
    • CrimeConUK
    • Crime Spotlight
      Dr Sohom Das is host of the YouTube channel A Psych For Sore Minds

      A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

      How Prisons Are Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic

      Don`t Become a Victim: What Info Not To Share About Yourself Online

      How Altering Our Education System Can Help Us Reduce The Crime Level

      What You Should Do When You Become A Victim Of Carjacking

Crime Traveller

The Brain of Serial Killers And Psychopaths

by Fiona Guy
27 November, 2015 - Updated on 7 July, 2018
in Psychology of Murder
Reading Time: 2min read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare
The brutal crimes of serial killers are regularly considered to be evil, but what makes one person evil and another not?

Neuroscience is becoming increasingly focused on the brains of serial killers and psychopaths in order to assess how they may be different and whether these differences can go some way to account for their violent criminal behavior.

The theory is simple; if we knew what caused evil then maybe we could develop a way to stop it. Dr Jonathan Pincus, who was Chief of Neurology at the VA Hospital in Washington DC. In this role he conducted extensive studies into the causes of violent behavior and why people kill, developing a theory where such behavior can be reduced down to three main factors; abuse, brain damage and mental illness.

Serial Killer Brain vs Normal Brains

Previous research has indicated that childhood abuse could be a factor in psychopathic killers. There is evidence that John Wayne Gacy, the ‘Killer Clown’, Gary Ridgeway, the ‘Green River Killer’ and Ed Gein, the notorious American serial killer, all suffered abuse as children which may have impacted their violent behavior as adults.

Another key figure in the hunt for biological factors which may be involved in why people kill is Dr Adrian Raine. A psychologist and academic, he has spent much of his career studying the neurobiological and biosocial factors involved in antisocial behavior. His work has covered both children and adults highlighted in his book ‘The Anatomy of Violence – The Biological Roots of Crime‘.

In his most notable study to date, he scanned the brains of convicted murderers and compared the results against the brains of everyday people. By arranging for 41 inmates to be brought to his lab to participate in the study, he injected them with a glucose isotope which would show during the scanning process, highlighting the brain patterns of that individual.

What he found were differences in the brains of these convicted murderers compared to the brain patterns of non-violent individuals. Primarily these differences could be seen in the frontal lobe of the brain that sits behind our forehead; the pre-frontal cortex. This is the area which deals with impulses, decision-making, and rationale.

The brains of those who were serial killers showed distinct patterns of brain activity which were different from normal brains and from impulse murderers’ brains. An exciting finding, however, there are many people who have brain scans which are closer to the serial killer group than to the normal group for example, but that does not mean they are serial killers. This research therefore, is far from conclusive.

In our quest to understand what causes the extreme violence often seen in serial murder, the idea that brain damage and mental illness can impair judgments and impulses while a history of childhood abuse can fuel rage is a theory which is still undergoing investigation.

Moreover, the brain scanning of serial killers is still in its infancy. A great deal more research is needed before any firm conclusions about brain differences and biological factors being the cause of such violent behavior can be drawn.

Tags: NeurosciencePsychopathySerial Murder
Share34Tweet21Pin14
Previous Post

Media Coverage Of Mass Murders: Should A Shooter Be Named?

Next Post

Pat Tate and The Rettendon Essex Boys Murders

Related Posts

Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

4 January, 2021 - Updated on 14 January, 2021

The first part of this incredible true story of a Houston criminal who specialized in robbing armoured trucks and murdering the guards, and how he...

Read more

CrimeCon Is Coming To The UK: June 2021

15 October, 2020 - Updated on 18 January, 2021

When you’ve watched all the documentaries, read all the books but you still want to know more? It’s time to go to CrimeCon.

Read more

Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

24 March, 2020 - Updated on 5 November, 2020
Image: Shutterstock

In the classic nature vs nurture debate, it appears there needs to be a genetic, physical, and social combination to result in antisocial personality disorder.

Read more

Comments 6

  1. Dev Kumar Ghosh says:
    5 years ago

    I absolutely agree with the author here, that Brain scanning ,or even further the Neuro Criminology , is at its infancy. Though this new take on the base subject is the most welcoming one, but the practical application of such knowledge discovered at the safety of those Hospital CT Scan rooms, are still (sadly)next to nil. WE study Criminology, at prime, to prevent societies from the crime , and that is why the understanding of the hypothetical behaviour of CRIME is necessary. Neuro Criminology, in a very short span of time, have proved itself a meritorious contributer to the base subject, but usage of such Knowledge to prevent crimes from happening? No , it is not still there,..
    But had provided precious pseudo-emperical knowledge behind the minds of the criminals..which atleast is a good start…..perhaps someday criminology as a base subject will adhere more towards the direction of ’emperical’ Neuroscience, rather than sociology or History …..

  2. CrimeTraveller says:
    5 years ago

    Hi Dev, this of course is one of the main issues with science in general, that transformation from theory into practice. There is certainly a long way to go in terms of using neuroscience to identify physical brain differences within those who kill, but it is a fascinating area which I think has a lot of potential. Most definitely an area to watch to see where things go in the future!

  3. CrimeTraveller says:
    5 years ago

    Hi there, thank you for stopping by and leaving such lovely comments. This blog has taken a fair amount of work to get going, mainly on the writing side but once you get things up and running and you are happy with your layout and design it is much easier to upkeep. Blogger or wordpress.com is a great place to start, it’s free and easier to work with than self-hosting when you are just starting out. There are also so many great templates to work with you can make a really nice looking blog without having to worry too much about coding. I hope you do go ahead with your own blog, best of luck!

  4. GeniaMSieger says:
    4 years ago

    Hi! I’ve been following your weblog for quite a while now lastly got the
    bravery to just offer you a shout from Lubbock Texas!
    Just desired to mention continue the great job!

  5. Arno says:
    4 years ago

    I continue to find these DR’s that study the brain and come back with rediculous opinions to be real suckers. Many of the serial Killers interviewed are smarter than the DR’s and play them like harps. It usually takes minutes before a patients knows what a DR who is asking questions wants to know and what direction they are leaning toward. These killers play that game so they keep coming back. AFTER ALL, WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE LOOK FORWARD TO?

  6. Fiona Guy says:
    4 years ago

    Hi Arno, that is a very good point. Serial killers can and have been very intelligent individuals who thrive on manipulation. Look at Ted Bundy, very intelligent man who could charm and manipulate with ease and not just his victims. When it comes to psychiatric assessments, they do often play to what doctors are looking for and to try and ensure they get the outcome they want in terms of diagnosis. I would hope that doctor’s working with any individuals with this sort of history would be fully aware of this risk and mitigate against it. The problem of course is noone can see inside the minds of others and can only go by verbal descriptions and expressions of emotions and feelings within an assessment.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Stay Connected

What's New?

True Crime & Justice

Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 2]

14 January, 2021
True Crime & Justice

Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

4 January, 2021 - Updated on 14 January, 2021
True Crime & Justice

Court TV Expands UK Footprint with Launch on Freesat

19 December, 2020
Load More

Search

No Result
View All Result

Categories

#StaySafe

Coronavirus
(COVID-19)


Information & Guidance
World Health Organisation  
US - coronavirus.gov
UK - gov.uk/coronavirus

You Might Also Like

Book Reviews

Absolute Madness: A True Story of a Serial Killer, Race, and a City Divided Book Review & Author Interview

14 November, 2017 - Updated on 13 November, 2020
Psychology of Murder

The Mind of a Psychopath: The Psychopathic Killer

8 July, 2015 - Updated on 10 July, 2018
Crime Research

We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

21 October, 2020
Family Violence & Homicide

An Innocent Man [Part III]: The Trial of Dr Jeffrey MacDonald – A Critique of the Case

4 August, 2017 - Updated on 3 June, 2019

RECENT

Justice For Helen Book Cover

Helen’s Law: A Mother’s Long Fight For Justice

21 January, 2021

Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 2]

14 January, 2021

Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

4 January, 2021 - Updated on 14 January, 2021

POPULAR

Absolute Madness: A True Story of a Serial Killer, Race, and a City Divided Book Review & Author Interview

The Mind of a Psychopath: The Psychopathic Killer

We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

An Innocent Man [Part III]: The Trial of Dr Jeffrey MacDonald – A Critique of the Case

Site Links

  • About Crime Traveller
  • Contact Page
  • Become A Guest Contributor
  • Get Your True Crime Book Reviewed
  • Crime Spotlight
No Result
View All Result
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Disclaimers
  • Cookies
  • DMCA
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2016 - 2021 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Crime Research
  • Psychology of Murder
  • Family Violence & Homicide
  • True Crime & Justice
  • Crime Spotlight
  • Book Reviews
  • Get Your True Crime Book Reviewed
  • Become A Guest Contributor
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2016 - 2021 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.