Amphetamines

From a reader:


I wanted to send you a response to an excerpt you posted earlier with regard to amphetamine use and its impact on the sociopath mind. As I am sure you are aware, there are neurobiological variances in a sociopath brain when compared to controls. I've written an essay on this myself, focusing on what changes are present, the purpose of the altered areas of the brain, and how to handle forms of agnosia such as this, since I believe that there are huge misunderstandings about the "disorder," even among the psychiatric field.

As I was saying: there are differences, and the sociopath brain does indeed process amphetamines differently than others. When amphetamines were administered to sociopaths during an experiment, they released four times the amount of dopamine as non-sociopaths. To quote my website:

"Joshua Buckholtz, a graduate student in psychology, pronounced to the media that 'a hyper-reactive dopamine reward system may be the foundation for some of the most problematic behaviors associated with psychopathy.' Dopamine (DA) is a catecholamine neurotransmitter commonly associated with enjoyment. It is used in the prediction of success, motivation, and cognition, and released during positive experiences, such as intercourse. Researchers at the Vanderbilt University employed positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) to measure dopamine release and the brain’s reward system. They discovered that both were heightened among those driven by psychopathic personalities. Likewise, people with high levels of psychopathy had almost four times the amount of dopamine released to the amphetamines administered during a scientific test. The obvious conclusion is that psychopaths are driven to pursue reward, but not restrained by apprehension.  

"This information is important, because it provides statistically normal persons a fascinating insight into dealing with psychopaths. Rather than advising them against negative experiences, such as prison, they must encourage positive ones, like freedom. The psychopath is inherently selfish, and if he desires to do what is best for himself, he must stress the importance of setting goals, and avoiding a pattern of reckless indulgence, because it is easy for him to do so, given the absence of reticence or realistic hesitation."

I'm not sure if you have already discovered this information elsewhere, as I have not read all of your posts, but - just in case. Here you go.

(Diagnosed as a sociopath four months ago),