The Anatomy of Violence Read Online Free PDF

1998. The respite from prison did not last long. Heassaulted one of the other residents, and on February 23, 1999, he was told he would be sent back to Maryland to serve the rest of his sentence. It was on the following day, when he was due to be returned to prison, that he robbed and killedPeyton Tuthill in Denver.
    Before the trial began I had been contacted byJames Castle, Donta’s defense attorney, who had heard of my brain-imaging work on murderers. He believed that Page’s abominable social history would likely have consequences for brain functioning, and that this in turn would have consequences for behavioral control. I frequently get requests of this sort and usually turn them down, but after considering the details Jim Castle presented me with, I believed Page’s case deserved a closer look.
    We arranged to have Donta Page brought across state lines from Colorado to California, so he could be brain-scanned in the samePET scanner that I had used in our studyof murderers—using the very same methodology. I presented Donta’s brain scan at his trial as an expert witness and compared it to fifty-six normal controls. I gave my opinion to the judge and jury: Donta Page showed clear evidence of reduced functioning in the medial and orbital regions of the prefrontal cortex, as well as the right temporal pole.
    You can see Donta’s brain scan alongside the normal controls in Figure 10.1 , in the color-plate section. In the top half of the figure youare looking head-on and slightly up at the individual. Look at the normal controls on the right, and you can see a lot of warm red and yellow colors in the top half of thebrain—the prefrontalcortex—indicating relatively normal prefrontal activity. If you look at the top left, at Donta Page’s brain, you can see those cooler green patches that indicate reduced glucose metabolism in the frontal poles.
    Now look at the lower half of the figure. You are looking down on the brain—a bird’s-eye view of a slice through the ventral part of the brain. At the top of the illustration you are looking at the frontal cortex. You can see that the controls are showing good activation in the medial region of the frontal cortex and at the two sides that make up theorbitofrontal cortex. In contrast, Donta Page demonstrates a distinct lack of medial and orbitofrontal functioning. It’s not far off being a black-and-white difference. Page clearly shows brain functioning that is quitedifferent from that of normal people.
    By now you will have picked up on the significance of these brain regions. You’ll recall that the brain regions found to be impaired inPhineas Gage are critically important for cognitive, emotional, and behavioral control. The medial prefrontal cortex—especially the frontal pole—is involved in behavioral control, as well as moral decision-making, empathy, social judgment, and insight into oneself. 6 Theventral prefrontal cortex, including the orbitofrontal cortex, is critically involved in emotion regulation and impulse control—as well as fear conditioning, the ability to switch behavioral response strategies, compassion and caring for others, and sensitivity to others’ emotional states. 7 Neurological patients with damage to these regions show impulsivity, loss of self-control, immaturity, lack of tact, inability to modify and inhibit inappropriate behavior, poor social judgment, loss of intellectual flexibility, and poor reasoning and problem-solving skills, as well as psychopathic-like personalities and behavior. 8 We’ve seen how these processes—when turned off—are important predispositions toviolent and antisocial behavior. You will also recall that prefrontal dysfunction is especially characteristic of impulsive killers. 9
    When you place this scientific knowledge in the context of Donta Page’s behavior, his actions become more explicable. He had not planned to rape and kill Peyton Tuthill—he just wanted to raid her house for any money he could