Charles Whitman
Charles Whitman
Jonathan Greene
Forsyth Technical Community College
Abstract
Research has been extensive related to the brain and how it functions since early times. This abstract will explore the connection between the amygdala and a prominent legal case that happened in 1966 with Charles Whitman (Ledoux par 3).
In his early life, Charles was a model child. He was born in 1941, and raised in Florida where he was an eagle scout and was a straight A student (Ledoux par3). He joined the Marine Corps to escape a violent father and became a sharpshooter. He later enrolled at Texas University where he met his wife (Eagleman par.7). He ended up murdering his mother, his wife and 13 people along with wounding 31 others. These acts were found to be linked to a tumor behind his temporal lobe causing intense pressure on his amygdala.
Charles began to suffer from extreme headaches in 1966 (Macload pg.2). Shortly thereafter, he murdered his mother and left a note with her body saying that he though (Macload pg.4). After killing his mother, he went home and killed his wife also. The note found at her death indicated he had no specific reason for killing her other than to spare her the embarrassment over his actions (Ledoux par.3). The next day, he went atop the University of Texas observation tower and began opening fire on innocent students (Ledoux par.3). He wounded 31 people and killed 13 before he was shot by police (Macload pg.4). After his death, an autopsy was performed and he was found to have a pecan sized tumor pressing against his amygdala, which is linked to the emotions of fear and aggression (Ledoux par.6). The amygdala is a region of the brain involved in a wide range of behavioral functions and psychiatric conditions (Eagleman par.9). A couple decades ago this region commanded little attention from the scientific community. Today it is one of the most studied areas of the brain (Ledoux, par.1).
Jonathan Greene
Forsyth Technical Community College
Abstract
Research has been extensive related to the brain and how it functions since early times. This abstract will explore the connection between the amygdala and a prominent legal case that happened in 1966 with Charles Whitman (Ledoux par 3).
In his early life, Charles was a model child. He was born in 1941, and raised in Florida where he was an eagle scout and was a straight A student (Ledoux par3). He joined the Marine Corps to escape a violent father and became a sharpshooter. He later enrolled at Texas University where he met his wife (Eagleman par.7). He ended up murdering his mother, his wife and 13 people along with wounding 31 others. These acts were found to be linked to a tumor behind his temporal lobe causing intense pressure on his amygdala.
Charles began to suffer from extreme headaches in 1966 (Macload pg.2). Shortly thereafter, he murdered his mother and left a note with her body saying that he though (Macload pg.4). After killing his mother, he went home and killed his wife also. The note found at her death indicated he had no specific reason for killing her other than to spare her the embarrassment over his actions (Ledoux par.3). The next day, he went atop the University of Texas observation tower and began opening fire on innocent students (Ledoux par.3). He wounded 31 people and killed 13 before he was shot by police (Macload pg.4). After his death, an autopsy was performed and he was found to have a pecan sized tumor pressing against his amygdala, which is linked to the emotions of fear and aggression (Ledoux par.6). The amygdala is a region of the brain involved in a wide range of behavioral functions and psychiatric conditions (Eagleman par.9). A couple decades ago this region commanded little attention from the scientific community. Today it is one of the most studied areas of the brain (Ledoux, par.1).