#Serial Processing Brain Serial Killer Mind

Serial Processing Brain Serial Killer Mind

For WBE, it needs to.There is a perhaps instinctual human fascination with the darkest edges of the serial killer mind. Computational neuroscience aims at modelling the behaviour of neural entities such as networks, neurons, synapses and learning processes. What format of data representation (alphanumeric, graphics, LISPlike. How many kinds of memory 3. Parallel (many processors handle different parts of the data at the same time.) 2. How is a computational problem divided up among processors Serial (one processor handles one part of the data, then another part, etc.).

Especially in Europe during the late 1800s, serial killers like Jack the Ripper were depicted in dime novels as the natural outcome of the brutish urban experience after the industrial revolution.Beginning in the early 1900s, the notion that violence and murder were simply the outcome of social and cultural factors was challenged as people began to explore the deep interconnection between neural structures and human behavior. Like Doyle’s “empty attic,” the assumption was that our minds were mutable, constructed upon our upbringing and experiences. (ii) humans are influenced in their.From the earliest record of neurosurgery in ancient Egypt over 3,700 years ago, until the late 19th century, most people believed that our brains were basically a blank slate of gray matter upon which our personalities were inscribed. Although my academic background is in cultural neurobiology, I didn’t know much about the neurology of serial killers so I decided to take a deep dive into the historical and modern research.(i) the human brain has the capacity for extensive parallel processing and computers often rely on serial processing. Reuse same neural tissue across many different situations improved generalization (e.g., RN) Recycle activity throughout network to coordinateWhile writing my crime thriller about an FBI neuroscientist, I set out to research the history of these questions in the world of neurobiology.

People with oversized amygdala tend to be super-altruists and those with smaller than average amygdala tend to be empathy-deficient.Likewise the neural circuits connecting the limbic system with the frontal lobe are far less active in the brains of serial killers. This significant size difference is especially prominent in the amygdala, small glands that are directly linked to empathy and the regulation of fear. There is now a great deal of well-established information about the neurological differences commonly found in the brains of serial killers.For example, serial killers have a 5 to 10% reduction in grey matter around the limbic system, the region where emotions are processed. The fact that damage to the prefrontal cortex could turn a previously gentle man into a violent criminal suggested that even the most fundamental aspects of our personalities were born directly from our biology.With the advent of modern brain scanning technologies, as well as the discovery of things like the “Warrior Gene” (the presence of which is strongly correlated with violent behavior), questions about the link between criminal behavior and biology have been taken up by thousands of researchers around the world. This theory was supported by what lobotomist Walter Freeman horrifically called, “fortunate mistakes”—accidents during lobotomies that damaged unexpected parts of the brain allowing him to observe the resulting behavioral changes. Despite the cruelty of their work, these first neural cartographers established a clear connection between criminal behavior and specific deficits of the human brain.Beliefs about the origin of criminal behavior began to swing away from “blank-slatism” (which often blamed the mother), toward biological determinism, viewing the brain as “hard-wired” from birth and people as little more than meat puppets acting out the directives of our biology.

Like many of his colleagues, Dr. This complexity was highlighted by UC Irvine neuropsychology professor James Fallon. If serial killers are nothing more than the sum of their brain matter, does that mean that they were destined to become serial killers from birth? What should we do with children that display these neural characteristics? Does the fact that their murderous behavior is neurologically mediated somehow lessen their criminal responsibility?At the same time, the fact that 68% of serial killers suffered some form of childhood abuse and that serial killers are a largely American phenomenon (according to the FBI, 67% of the world’s serial killers are from the United States), strongly support the “blank-slate” idea that there is, in fact, a learned/cultural aspect to serial killing.Behavioral neurology has turned out to be far more complex than originally imagined. The belief that our brain structure determines our behavior peaked in the 80s and 90s just as the image of the FBI “mind-hunter” on the trail of an evil serial killer exploded in the world of crime fiction.But biological determinism raised some very uncomfortable questions. Damage to or reduced activity in this region of the brain is linked to reduced empathy and increased impulsivity and violence.In other words, the deficiencies commonly found in serial killer brains are, unsurprisingly, connected to behavioral results such as reduced empathy, over-confidence, increased violence, fearlessness, impulsivity, and so on—all of the traits we think of when we picture a serial killer in action.

How could he be a respected professor with the brain of a serial killer? How could he be both a psychopath and beloved family man?Upon researching his background, Dr. Fallon was shocked to discover that, not only was there no prank, the brain scan he identified as belonging to a psychopath was actually a scan of his own brain. As he was reviewing his family’s scans, he came across one that clearly belonged to a psychopath and he assumed someone in his lab was messing with him, sneaking a serial killer brain into his own family’s stack. Fallon was scanning the brains of his family members. During the project, he developed the ability to eyeball the difference between psychopathic and non-psychopathic brains.At the same time, for an unrelated project, Dr. Back in 2005, he was conducting a research project compiling and analyzing the brain scans of psychopathic serial killers.

How could he be a respected professor with the brain of a serial killer? How could he be both a psychopath and beloved family man?Over the last twenty years, our understanding of this complexity has led to new theories about neuroplasticity (and epigenetics), moving neuroscience beyond any simple nature/nurture dichotomy. Fallon to reconsider his own beliefs about free will and the neurological origins of behavior. This revelation forced Dr. He also learned that he scored quite high on the psychopathy checklist.

Building on theories of neuroplasticity, a number of neuro-pharmacological treatments are in development for psychopathy. With an extensive history of nuanced explorations of serial killers, I can’t help but feel that crime fiction has long understood these complexities of psychopathic minds.However, armed with data suggesting that neural structures can be altered, neuroscientists have begun asking fascinating new questions about the ways that we might be able to neurally discourage criminal behavior. Psychopathy is still often considered by parole boards, because someone with a confirmed diagnosis is far less likely to respond to traditional therapy and is far more likely to reoffend, and even beyond prison, the diagnosis bears a heavy weight.

By emphasizing positive reinforcement to “retrain their neural reward centers,” this program has dramatically reduced the recidivism rates of those treated.With an extensive history of nuanced explorations of serial killers, I can’t help but feel that crime fiction has long understood these complexities of psychopathic minds.