Are psychopathic children lind to fearful, sad expressions?
Children with psychopathic tendencies have difficulty recognizing sadness and fear, according to a new British study. D. Stevens and colleagues studied nine children who exhibited symptoms of psychopathy, and nine control children. Each child viewed sad, fearful, happy, and angry facial expressions, and listened to voices expressing these emotions. “The children with psychopathic tendencies showed selective impairments in the recognition of both sad and fearful facial expressions and sad vocal tone,” the researchers say. In contrast, they did not have difficulty recognizing happy or angry expressions, or fearful, happy, and angry vocal tones. The researchers suggest that the impairment of their psychopathic subjects may reflect early dysfunction of the amygdala, a structure located within the temporal lobes of the brain. Previous research indicates that individuals with amygdala damage due to strokes or viral infections have difficulty identifying facial expressions of fear. The findin
