Hi Richie and Sela this is one of my favourite subjects!
Richie, I’m interested in this because of my parents. The question of whether or not
severely personality disordered people can change their minds (their brain functioning) will possibly be of interest to many members here (because we might hold out a glimmer of hope that our narcissistic parents/partners/siblings/friends will change – which is probably somewhat of a diversion from looking at our own problems). Hope you see my point?
Richie you said:
But you're right, my brain didn't change neurologically the moment that my girlfriend's psychologist and family decided to apply a label to me, 
How do you know that your brain didn’t change? I’ve been reading some of this particular site (although you could find others pretty easily on the subject – I liked the positive outlook on this one). I’ve bolded some parts myself….
http://www.uta.edu/psychology/faculty/levine/saopaulopaper83001.htmEffects of Experience on the Brain
Babies do not have fully developed brains when they are born. If they did, they would not be able to fit through the birth canal. So the human brain must instead continue to develop outside the mother's womb for many years after the baby is born.
Psychologists have long told us that parents, other caregivers, and peers all have considerable influence on how a child develops. But we are also learning from neuroscience how deeply this influence affects brain structure and biochemistry.
The behavioral physiologist Donald Hebb (1949) proposed that such effects of experience could be mediated by a change at the synapse (connection) between two neurons (brain cells) if the two neurons are electrically active at about the same time. But most neurophysiologists resisted the idea of a change at the synapse until it was demonstrated by electrical recordings from single neurons. The first such demonstration was published in 1965 and occurred in California sea slug. The first such observation in a mammal was published in 1973 and occurred in the hippocampus, a memory encoding area, of the rabbit (Bliss & Lømo, 1973).
Because of such findings, most neuroscientists now agree that day-to-day events can cause changes in the chemistry of neural transmitters at some synapses. The exact biochemical mechanisms for these changes are not yet well worked out. Results are coming quickly, however, both from biochemical studies of neural transmitters and from imaging that indicates which regions of the brain are metabolically active in the presence of specific stimuli.
Such results suggest that if there is a pattern of stimulation, such as a pattern of caring or abusive treatment of a child,
there would be lasting effects on synapses. And studies of chronically abused children confirm this supposition.
Humans and other animals possess an elaborate biological system for coping with stress. Responses in different parts of the brain, the endocrine glands, the immune system, and the cardiovascular system are coordinated to produce characteristic biochemical changes in response to unpleasant or potentially threatening environmental events. This interconnected system serves useful functions in evolution: it prepares the body for either fighting the stressful event or withdrawing from it.
Under normal circumstances, when the stressful events cease, the stress-based profile disappears and the body recovers its normal biochemical configuration. When the stresses are too severe or persistent, however, as with
children who are physically or sexually abused repeatedly***, the recovery cannot take place fast enough to keep up with the new stresses that occur. In this case,
the biochemical configuration often changes permanently, with lasting damage to the personality.
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So when we engage in uncaring behavior, we may be trapped in a compulsive pattern, or not know we have an alternative. This means
the availability of an alternative can lead to a readjustment, regulated by the prefrontal cortex, of the set points for reward that the uncaring behavior disrupted. This suggests that
uncaring behavior is reversible when there is sufficient social support.
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While some criminals may be
deficient in brain pathways involved in empathy, this may not be the majority of criminals. And even those who do have brain damage often have acquired it through childhood abuse or head injury. It is even less likely that brain damage accounts for the behavior of people who are part of a destructive system, such as Nazi officials or executives of polluting corporations.
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*** my asterisks - I wonder if severe
emotional abuse could also be included here? Who knows.
Big subject. No black and white answers I guess but it seems as though those neuroscientists can see neural connections lighting up - or not - and can make some inferences based on their research. Anyone got anything more recent on this?
Hope I'm not hijacking your thread Richie. I'm just not sure how much other interest there might be in this subject. It's a bit errrr out there I guess.
