Psychopaths, Genetics and more...

Hi! As people who know me personally might know, I really love researching and knowing about how and why thing happen.Today I am going to post two questions and there answers which particularly intrigued and interested me. All content credit goes to the internet. This is just a compilation, simplified and in my own words. But it is research as it is from multiple sources and I have collected the information myself. " Copying from one person is called plagiarism, copying from many is called research".

Q1. Can psychopaths be cured?

The problem with psychopaths is that they show no empathy and are highly aggressive and impulsive. Their behavior is highly resistant to any kind of drugs, hypnosis, and electric shock. Brain scans reveal psychopathic abnormalities can show up in the brain even in early childhood. Their behavior includes not having sympathy, seducing people, lack of guilt etc. Punishments can not be used nor social isolation as psychopaths don't react to these things. Psychopaths are 6 times more likely to commit crimes again after being released from prison. These people are put in special institutions where every small sign of positive behavior is rewarded.

 Developed and implemented by staff at the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center(MJTC), the Decompression Model operates without the strict deterrence and punishment commonplace at a normal juvenile facility. The hallmark of the Decompression Model is positive reinforcement. The institutionalized youth are monitored continuously by all staff members for any sign of positive behavior, however small. When spotted, the behavior is reinforced with some sort of reward. The youth are also told that their rewards can scale, meaning the longer they persist with good behavior, the greater the prizes become. What starts out as a pat on the shoulder graduates to a candy bar, which graduates to the right to play video games, and so on and so forth. The youth were being introduced to the simple benefits of social society.So has the Decompression Model worked? In various studies, over 300 subjects who were treated at MJTC were matched with similar subjects not treated at MJTC. Researchers followed both groups over a five-year period, even after they were released.The results were nothing short of staggering.98% of the non-MJTC youth were arrested again within four years, while only 64% of MJTC youth were.Moreover, MJTC youth were 50% less likely to commit a violent crime, and, while non-MJTC youth killed 16 people after their release on an average, MJTC youth didn't commit a single homicide!  If we can identify and treat psychopaths early on, thousands of lives might just be saved. Is this a cure? Maybe, but it is more of just control.

Recently, researchers in Italy found a way to completely rewire a psychopath's brain with either eletrodes implanted in the skull or with something known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which has something to do with magnets. Point is, they may be close to a cure but the lead researcher made recent headlines claiming that human head transplant was not far off. So is there a cure??? Well not right now but there should be one soon if development  in this field continues as fast as it is going right now.

Q2. Is personality genetic?
Yes, in the sense that many character traits are highly heritable. Some of the best evidence comes from studies of twins, especially comparing those brought up in a similar manner and those not. Among the most highly genetic character traits are leadership, traditionalism and obedience to authority. It may seem weird that liking traditions and obeying superiors can be hereditary but that is what research shows. Other highly heritable traits are how outgoing you are, sense of alienation, stress management and risk-taking. This does not mean that these traits are fixed. A naturally afraid person can overcome fear, a risk taker can learn to hold back and stressed people can learn to relax. But we cannot change ourselves into someone we are not, because at the end of the day we are made up of our genes and DNA. There are no specific genes responsible for personality but somehow genes do effect personality as decades of twin research has shown. It is important to remember that personality is also dependent on the environment. Also, even slight variation in 1 or 2 traits can completely change a person's over all personality. In a study of twins in the US involved 50+ aged twins answering questions about whether they were content with life etc. identical twins almost always had similar answers. This proves that there are connections. So is personality genetic? It is not predetermined but yes, there are hereditary traits and there are characteristics passed on from generation to generation.

I hope these questions and answers will instill curiosity in your mind as they did to me. Next time I shall take 2-3 more interesting questions and research on them and write. The need not be from the BBC magazine. If anyone has any preference on questions please let me know either by commenting on this blog post or by emailing me directly.
Thnx,
Smitz.

Artwork

Hi again! I love doing art. I used to think that everything about art giving expression is meaningless. But it isn't as I found out. Today I am posting pictures of some of my artwork.
The 1st one depicts the seaside- the waves at the bottom, sand in the middle and sky above, done with crayon and pen. The one below is a Miniature Painting done with paint.

The next one is just abstract I guess done with poster colors.

This one is an oil painting on canvas which is of flowers... as is evident:)

This is a drawing of a leaf in which using different densities of dots the dark and light and shadows are shown.

This is a warli painting depicting a typical day in a typical village- there are workers on the fields, woman preparing food etc.

This is also a warli painting but this one shows a happy event with dancing etc.

This one is again abstract with shading done with oil pastels.

This is a drawing of a grass land done with color pencils.

This is an abstract drawing done with oil pastels. I like to call it "Echo of a rainbow".

This one is done by pen and is also abstract in a way i.e., it is not of a real thing.

The last one is done with oil pastels and is also just a design.

I hope you like my works of art. Open to feedback.

Bye,

Smitz.