Criminal - Amygdala and criminal behaviour

How can damage to the amygdala cause individuals to respond?

Reactions may be overly fearful, or overly aggressive

What animal studies have looked at damage to the amygdala?

- Delgado - bulls became less aggressive when left side of amygdala stimulated

- Cats became more aggressive when right side of amygdala stimulated

- Removing the amygdala of rats found that they have no awareness of danger

What is the role of the amygdala?

Controls social behaviour and emotion, especially our fight or flight response

How can sending fear signals lead someone to show antisocial behaviour?

If the amygdala sends a fear signal even when there is no real danger, a response intended to protect the individual can be enacted. This could include the 'fight' response leading to criminal behaviour such as violence, due to the misinterpretation of a situation

What is uneven amygdala activity often associated with?

Low activity in the PFC

What can uneven amygdala activity and low PFC activity lead to?

Lack of emotional regulation so responses are likely to be more impulsive and extreme

What studies have linked uneven amygdala activity to criminal behaviour?

- Raine - looked at NGRIs

- Pardini - males with lower amygdala volumes more aggressive compared to controls

- Charles Whitman - tumour pressing on his amygdala

What is fear conditioning?

Classical conditioning that elicits fear to prevent a behaviour being repeated

What can damage to the amygdala do to learning by fear conditioning?

Mean that individuals do not learn from fear conditioing

How can a failure to respond to fear conditioning lead to criminal behaviour?

Children are less likely to learn the negative responses of antisocial behaviour and so are more likely to continue to a life of crime as they cannot learn from the consequences of their actions

Describe a study looking at fear conditioning and the amygdala.

Yu Gao looked at fear conditioning in 3 year olds. He then traced pp after 20 years and looked at their criminal history. He found those that had got lower results aged 3 had a criminal history

How could we biologically treat antisocial behaviour?

Improving diet and making it rich in omega 3 (through consuming essential fatty acid supplements) has been found to lead to decreases in violent behaviour. This is because these foods increase activity in the PFT.

What type of studies can we use as strengths and weaknesses of the amygdala as an explanation of criminal behaviour?

- Animal studies

- Case studies of BDPs

- Longitudinal studies

(Know the strengths and weaknesses of these)