A reward center that grows larger in psychopaths

Psychopaths have a larger reward center in their brains. Researchers scanned the brains of 120 adults and gave them a standard test for psychopathy. They found the striatum, a deep brain area that handles reward and motivation, was about 10 percent larger in people with strong psychopathic traits. This bigger size explained nearly half of the link to thrill-seeking and impulsive behavior. The striatum normally shrinks as kids grow up, so an enlarged one hints at disrupted growth in childhood. The finding held for women too, but the female group was small. The study shows a physical basis for the reward-chasing seen in psychopaths.

License: TypeCram Original