{"id":106,"date":"2008-11-07T19:02:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-08T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=106"},"modified":"2008-11-07T19:02:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-08T00:02:00","slug":"so-how-big-is-your-amygdala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"So, How Big is Your Amygdala?"},"content":{"rendered":"
So what is a psychopath anyway? For most of us, say the word and the Charlie Manson\u2019s, the Hannibal Lector\u2019s, the Jack the Ripper\u2019s spring to mind. Tough to argue that these characters definitely do qualify. Clinically, it\u2019s a tad more complicated though than donning a goalie\u2019s mask when you own a carving set and no skates; or firing up the latest version of your Stihl MS 460 and waiting for the next, na\u00efve, car load of unsuspecting teenagers to roll into the front yard. There\u2019s that penchant for telling porkies; for picking fights \u2013 just to pick a fight; for generally finding yourself on the questionable side of the bars \u2013 the steel ones, not the fun ones; for sporting an emotional \u2018body temperature\u2019 somewhere between cold and frozen \u2013 that would be conscienceless; for having the capacity to sustain relationship somewhere between a junk yard dog and a hooker (without the heart) . . . to mention a few of the more endearing features.<\/p>\n

I recently attended a symposium conducted by one of the more renowned researchers in this field, Robert Hare, as I searched for interesting ways to spend my summer vacation \u2013 and do the regular upgrading that allows me to distinguish these folks from those of us in the general population. (Not everyone carries a loaded assault rifle and dresses in Goth or army fatigues.) Bob has not only identified the twenty, cardinal features that single out likely candidates; but has managed to demonstrate some rather interesting differences in the way these characters\u2019 brains work when presented emotionally charged material. In a nutshell, it amounts for your average psychopath to reacting (at a cortical level) in about the same way whether you\u2019re looking at Rembrandt or road kill. (Seen No Country For Old Men<\/em> yet?)<\/p>\n

But the truly telling feature is the absence of a little, very human feature called \u2018empathy\u2019. The everyman definition of empathy goes something like: \u2018the capacity to understand and identify with another\u2019s perspective; to experience the same feelings as another; putting oneself in another\u2019s shoes\u2019 . . . and so on. A slightly more discerning element is \u2018the ability to accurately discriminate the emotional state \/ response of another (to one\u2019s actions)\u2019. And Bob has tossed us another curve in his most recent book, Snakes in Suits<\/em>. These folks are not only walking around amongst us \u2013 but are so good at insinuating themselves into our good graces, are so superficially attractive to us that we actually welcome them, admire their 100 watt smiles, and are impressed by their firm hand shakes.<\/p>\n

As is so often the case, Lynn\u2019s eloquent homilies trigger lots of thought for me \u2013 just not always the bright and sunny ones. Her deconstruction of the metaphoric meanings of \u2018salt\u2019 \u2013 in particular, the \u201cyou may be the only gospel your neighbour reads\u201d closing \u2013 really stuck with me; and sure enough, reflections on not only how we speak and conduct ourselves, whatever our best intentions might be \u2013 but also how these words and actions are perceived by those on the receiving end; how<\/em> we are experienced by others<\/em>, began to boil and bubble.<\/p>\n

So what does all this have to do with the closet Ted Bundy\u2019s lurking in the narthex? Well, in making this connection, partly it\u2019s helpful to be inside the mind of a psychologist whose charge it is to spot and tag such specimens \u2013 although Nicola\u2019s forever pointing out that \u201cnot everyone thinks like you!\u201d (I can only assume that the unexpressed parenthetical is \u2013 \u201cand a good thing, too\u201d.) At the risk of being a bit too reductionist, a view commonly held (and seemingly supported by Hare\u2019s research) is that \u2018psychopaths are born, not made\u2019. This is certainly not to say that this is strictly a nature (vs. nurture \u2013 you know, the genes we walk around with vs. the families that \u2018brung us up\u2019) issue. But essentially, the brain is subtly different in structure \u2013 and therein lies the root of many of those nasty little predispositions I\u2019ve listed above. And that would include the capacity for empathy and it\u2019s extension; namely our capacity to monitor the impact of what we say and do and<\/em> to \u2018read\u2019 the impact these words and deeds have on those around us.<\/p>\n

In short, if we accept the teachings of these extremes in behaviour, some of us can \u2018see\u2019 what we\u2019re saying and the potential good (or ill) it might engender; and some of us can\u2019t \u2013 all a function of the hard wiring we bring to the task. Some of us get stuck in the \u2018rightness\u2019 of our perspective and are really unable to get past the content of our \u2018personal gospel\u2019 (that our neighbours are reading). And some of us are better equipped to \u2018take the temperature\u2019 of the exchange, let go of the content to an extent, and adjust our \u2018message\u2019 \u2013 largely predicated on the reactions of that vulnerable and under-read neighbour. Some of us are pure teachers<\/em> (in Lynn\u2019s metaphor, the \u2018book\u2019 on this subject or that), secure in the knowledge that what we\u2019re sharing and how it\u2019s framed is, well, just what is. Some of us are endowed with a capacity to attend \u2013 in our empathic model, to listen to our words, our gospel and appreciate not just its message, but its impact, its reception. All a function of a little structure buried deep in our brain and one most of us would struggle to spell, much less pronounce: the Amygdala. <\/p>\n

So as we venture \u2018out there\u2019, as Lynn homilized, as we carry our particular gospel to those next door, two blocks over, or beside us on the bus, let us be mindful of, let us be sensitive to \u2013 to the extent we are able \u2013 the \u2018what\u2019 we pass along and<\/em> most particularly the \u2018how\u2019 we are heard. We forego, ignore, or are simply insensitive to the latter at our peril, alienating where we most wish to foster; disaffecting those we most wish to include. For we may indeed be the only gospel our neighbour reads.<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n
David Howard<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

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So what is a psychopath anyway? For most of us, say the word and the Charlie Manson\u2019s, the Hannibal Lector\u2019s, the Jack the Ripper\u2019s spring to mind. Tough to argue that these characters definitely do qualify. Clinically, it\u2019s a tad more complicated though than donning a goalie\u2019s mask when you own a carving set and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}