Letters; January / February 2011; Scientific American Mind; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

An Emotionless Mind
Thank you for the balanced article on psychopaths [“Inside the Mind of a Psychopath,” by Kent A. Kiehl and Joshua W. Buckholtz]. All too often I hear people with this condition referred to as monsters or with the Dark Ages moniker of being “evil.” I have a good friend who has this problem, and it is heartbreaking to see such an intelligent young man have brushes with the law because he does not seem to have the ability to understand common social codes of ethics.

Let’s hope that in the near future sensationalism will give way to understanding and research and that it will be possible to treat and prevent this condition.
Alice
via e-mail