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Psychopathy and Aggression: When Paralimbic Dysfunction Leads to Violence

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Neuroscience of Aggression

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 17))

Abstract

Psychopaths can be alarmingly violent, both in the frequency with which they engage in violence and the gratuitous extent of their violent acts. Indeed, one principal utility of the clinical construct of psychopathy is in predicting future violent behavior in criminal offenders. Aggression is a complex construct that intersects psychopathy at many levels. This chapter provides a review of psychopathy as a clinical construct including the most prominent cognitive and neurobiological models, which serve to account for its pathophysiology. We then describe how the brain abnormalities implicated in psychopathy may lead to diverse behavioral outcomes, which can include aggression in its many forms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Nathaniel E. Anderson

  2. The Mind Research Network and University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Kent A. Kiehl

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  1. Nathaniel E. Anderson
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  2. Kent A. Kiehl
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Correspondence to Nathaniel E. Anderson .

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  1. Moses Hunt Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, Pharmacol & Neurosci, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA

    Klaus A. Miczek

  2. Dept of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

    Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg

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Anderson, N.E., Kiehl, K.A. (2013). Psychopathy and Aggression: When Paralimbic Dysfunction Leads to Violence. In: Miczek, K., Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (eds) Neuroscience of Aggression. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2013_257

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