. . . Having been a surviving victim of manslaughter at the hands of a registered psychopath (who had been in and out of jail since 14 years old and had murdered a man only months before becoming obsessed with me) I would welcome anyone to investigate into why the psychopaths “crystal blue” eyes turned death jet black, (like a sharks eyes).
I began nursing at 16 year old and am now 50. This is not the first time I have come across this anomoly.. . .
Good question!
I’ve wondered this myself, having been on the receiving end of what I would call psych-med-induced homicidal tendencies among my dear friends, neighbors, family and co-workers many years ago (ah yes, there were numerous product liability lawsuits on some of these, and I think they’ve been pulled from the market or restricted, thereby taking the ‘fun’ out of dys – FUN-ctional). (I kid).(What else can you do?)
Pupils dilate for all sorts of reasons, like seeing something you like, or being on narcotics. But, if you look at an animal with vertical pupils, their pupils get large and round when they’re zeroing in on a target. That seems to me to be pretty close to the psych-med murderous look. And behold: A recent paper reports that pupil dilation in response to target detection may be localized from a brain region deep in the brain stem, the locus coeruleus. Privitera, C.M., Renninger, L.W., Carney, T., Klein, S., Aguilar, M., “Pupil dilation during visual target detection,” Journal of Vision 10:3 (August 6, 2010) doi:10.1167/10.10.3
This gets into the bowels of the brain, the reptilian brain, so to speak, to the roiling, evolutionarily archaic areas that operate in that primeval brew of neurotransmitters, heavy metals and glyco-fiber, the brain stem. The locus coeruleus is, for one thing, blue, apparently, from melanin that is located in the substantia nigra radiating out. (For more explanation, here is a terrific Youtube neuro class, about 18 minutes. ) But, more to the point, this evolutionarily archiac little bundle of neural controls is key in how we respond to danger, or what we perceive as danger. Where the brain detects a threat, the amygdala and limbic system are activated and transmit signal to projections leading to the locus coeruleus. The locus coeruleus, as the YouTube prof describes, spritzes the brain with norepinephrine for high arousal and vigilance. There are multiple other feedback loops as this area of the brain contains receptors that have been targeted by psych meds — many of which work to open and close chloride channels.
The wiring from the locus coeruleus goes up through the midbrain to connect with the amygdala and other areas. The brain midline defects apparently found in psychopaths (here) seem to provide a wide open highway for the reptilian signals . Here is a brain with no septum pellucidium (where the red arrow is, there should be a piece of tissue) – one of the anatomical defects, apparently, in the psychopath brain (as it was defined at the time).
Lots of research has been done fooling with the septum.
Tragically, in infants and neonates, where the brain is underdeveloped including lack of a septum, the debilitation can be extreme, if not lethal. But, in psychopaths, the debilitation seems to be minimized as to basic physiological functions, perhaps because the other brain areas are more or less developed.
Fenestrating the septum (and defenestration gives me an attack of synesthesia, with sudden involuntary visuals of throwing the monks out the window, although it is confusing that fenestration is making a window, because then defenestration should mean eliminating a window, rather than going out of a window, but whatever), . . . fenestrating the septum in animals results in sham rage and all sorts of neo-reptilian behaviors. (But see here, some guy had a septal cyst, and so microsurgery to fenestrate his septum made him feel better). Plus, the lateral septum has vasopressin and oxytocin receptors, and research points to these receptors, or rather the neurodevelopment of these receptors, being important for monogamous mating in voles.
So, if it is the case that the reptilian part of the brain catches the threat signal from the amygdala and then sends the limbic machinery signals of fear and loathing — and, the septum is not there to dampen any of this down physically or through the counter-veiling forces of vasopressin and oxytocin, then no wonder – the reptilian stare.
Perhaps there’s a way to give psychopaths brain microsurgery (like the guy with the cyst, above) to put in a little piece of scaffolding seeded with stem cells or something that can act like a septum. Other than that, because this seems to be pure neural wiring, maybe the thing to do is to distract them with some other sensory information, like a smell or loud noise or bright light.
God bless and thank you Swivelchair, and others, for your concise and easily understood answer to my question.(Blue eyes to black). It is fascinating that the locus coeruleus is ‘blue’ and I have often wondered if this affected all coloured eyes. I am hoping that you may be able to answer another question concerning the amygdala.
Considering abnormalities in the amygdala is a neurological base of psychopathy; how then does this affect a person diagnosed with chronic PTSD? (Lucky me got a psychopath that thought I was dead and had me in the bathroom to cut me up). When I am overwhelmed with explosive outrage, I feel that the psychopath has passed his disease of evil onto me. I understand that my amygdala has been damaged yet I control(sometimes takes a while) my outrage and don’t lash out;(without the use of medication). Do you see this as a degenerating condition or will I forever maintain control? Will the persistent memories become past memories eventually?
i saw a teenager giving me an empty creepy stare when i was at the cinema and i wonder if he was a phyco
Paul: The interesting thing about interpreting the eye contact of others is that it goes to the whole theory of mind thing: What does the other person intend by such a look? There are instances of those with negative attributional bias, in that a neutral look/act is interpreted as hostile.
Paranoiacs are angry and erroneously sense anger in others …
“You did that on purpose!” is default position in most people …
I study psychology for a while and I came to notice that, I score very high on the checklist of hare. with that information ive been seeking around for more that 6 months understanding this topic from the roots til the tip. I think I can make the conclusion that I tested positive on all kind of traiths involved with this subject called psychopatism.
even when I look back in my life I can say that things were always different then the so called life everyone should had.
I have a very strong lack of empathy, what I pity, Its so strange now I see it for myself that I react on occasions that are defined as stressful I react with calmness, whatever happens . i dont really know where to start with this. I was wondering are there any people who wanna talk about this with me, I could try it inside my connections with the people I know but I rather do it with someone I do not know.
I have much more things that I can tell about this but not just on a forum, thats to public.
I would like to speak with someone who is capable of understanding these subjects.
mike i understand you i rarely feel any “real” emotions i was wonderin if its a problem thats gonna persist in the future.Then i realized this is who i am ..there arent to many things that mean anything to me in life anymore … even with succes and all that i just feel empty ……you feel like this….and im not suicidal either, also does anyone ever say you have a repetilian stare????
[...] Love, eye contact and the developmental origins of empathy v. psychopathy. MR Dadds (2011) Here Commentary: Are callous unemotional traits all in the eyes? Examining eye contact in youth with conduct problems and callous unemotional traits – reflections on Dadds et al. R.J.R. (March 2011) Here Bullying at school as a predictor of delinquency, violence and other anti-social behaviour in adulthood. Bender et al. 2011 Here Impaired attention to the eyes of attachment figures and the developmental origins of psychopathy. Dadds (2010) Here Early maternal and paternal bonding, childhood physical abuse and adult psychopathic personality. Raine, Gao et al. (2010) Here Learning to ‘talk the talk: the relationship of psychopathic traits to deficits in empathy across childhood. Dadds (2009) Here The relationship between psychopathic traits and attachment behavior in a non-clinical population. Tawny D. Mack et al. (June 2011) Here Also of interest; Structural Brain Abnormalities in Psychopaths—a Review (2008) Here and “Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often a precursor of psychopathy”. “However, the disorder of ADHD likely increases the probability, not the certainity, of psychopathic behavior.” Here Furthermore, an interesting post by neurologicalcorrelates concerning psychopaths and eye contact, The Reptilian Stare: Psychopath’s pupil dilation when you are the target Here [...]