‘Psychopaths’ Have an Impaired Sense of Smell

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woodlawn

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This is the one time that I can think that my keen sense of smell (which is quite annoying to me at times) is a blessing.
I'm obviously no psychopath! :rocker:
 
Does this mean they can slip up since they can't smell their crimes?

:waitasec:

I don't know if I can buy into this finding. KC Anthony was able to smell the trunk of her car without a problem.
 
Which is why I posted in off-beat news, rather than a place where it might be taken too seriously as a diagnostic or investigative tool. I seriously doubt it's as simple as all that, or that there's some one-to-one relationship between sense of smell and psychopathology, but as we learn more about the brain, there are some provocative findings out there. Even though some of them may prove to be dead ends.

OTOH, you don't hear abut too many sommelier-serial killers, either. :)
 
Makes no sense to me. Not enough info in the article.

However, it gives a tiny bit of assistance in understanding necrophilia, perhaps that means vision is also skewed? :sick:
 
ATasteOfHoney said:
This is the one time that I can think that my keen sense of smell (which is quite annoying to me at times) is a blessing.
I'm obviously no psychopath! :rocker:
Click to expand...

BBM

How do we know??? :panic: :floorlaugh: ;)
 
I guess some of us single women need to give our dates the "small taste" before accepting a date invitation.

Something like:

Jim, I need you to take this smell test before we go out to dinner.

Lemon Orange

Close your eyes (or blindfold works best I guess), now tell me which one is a lemon.

If he picks the wrong one......

You :hills:



:lol:
 
IDK, Hannibal Lector seemed to enjoy the aroma of his late night lamb cooked rare. On the other hand, he couldn't smell Clarice's . . . , well, he did smell her perfume from the prior day. Maybe he was just borderline psychopathic?
 
Wordsworth had no sense of smell. He was a tosser, true, but I wouldn't label him a psychopath, quite.
 
Kimster said:
Does this mean they can slip up since they can't smell their crimes?

:waitasec:

I don't know if I can buy into this finding. KC Anthony was able to smell the trunk of her car without a problem.
Click to expand...

But Casey thought it was a dead squirrel. Then it became spoiled pizza. She could smell human decomp, but it is very likely it smelled differently to her than to the average person and, IMO, the average person would not have been able to ride around with the smell for as long as Casey did--several days or more.

Psychopath's brains are wire differently, so there could be something to this smell thing--and it could be why Casey was not and will never be haunted by what she did.
 
woodlawn said:
A new study suggests that a poor sense of smell may be a marker for psychopathic traits. People with psychopathic tendencies have an impaired sense of smell, which points to inefficient processing in the front part of the brain. These findings by Mehmet Mahmut and Richard Stevenson, from Macquarie University in Australia, are published online in Springer’s journal Chemosensory Perception.
Click to expand...

:what: OMG My sister has no sense of smell, I'm not sure if I should be worried or not.
 
I wonder how many in the study smoked and denied smoking. LOL That would kill your smell ability.

I use to smoke and my sense of smell was very bad, since I quit, I smell everything.
 
The subjects studied were probably men and men can never smell things very well. Why wouldn't a psychopath fake it as well. They are liars.
 
Looking back, the very first symptom I noticed with my mom (Alzheimer's) was she lost her sense of smell. Very dangerous when you forget you were cooking and a pan's burning on the stove...
 
I have heard this is why they can engage in necrophilia and be around dead bodies. The smell just doesn't bother them as much.
 
I lost my sense of smell when I was pregnant. It came back after delivery but in a diminished capacity. (I had to be up close to smell yucky diapers, for instance and that is not a complaint!)

I *think* the Alzheimer's test is the inability for the person to identify what they are smelling.....they can smell the lemon, just can't tell you it's lemon. That is different from a diminished sense of smell, it's a diminished ability to name something.

I think it is interesting about the psychopaths, but I'd hate to lump me, smokers and people with sinus problems all into the same boat.
 
Kimster said:
Does this mean they can slip up since they can't smell their crimes?

:waitasec:

I don't know if I can buy into this finding. KC Anthony was able to smell the trunk of her car without a problem.
Click to expand...

Hi Kimster - When I read this - I thought of whats her name too...

I will add - the offender Anthony was able to drive that car around for two weeks with the horrific smell of Caylee's remains... so this makes me believe that this finding is spot on. IMO - she could smell it... but perhaps not at a level that non psychopath would smell it.
 
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