Vitami.n C Lowers Bloo.d Pressur.e

When people voluntarily do something, chances are they do it for pleasure.   A new study suggests that bullies make others feel bad to make themselves feel good.

The study published in Biological Psychology showed the brains of those who bullied others experienced activity in the brain's pleasure centers when they saw others feel a pain in videos.

For the study, Dr. Benjamin Lahey professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at the University of Chicago and colleagues used fMRI scans to compare brain activity in eight unusually aggressive males aged 16 to 18 to those of eight adolescent males with normal behaviors when they watched videos of people getting hurt.

The researchers found that those who had conduct disorder had activity in the brain's pleasure centers indicating that they enjoyed watching others got hurt or felt pain.   No activity was found in the brains of those who had no behavioral issues.

The study is very interesting.  If the reason bullies bully others is to have some pleasure, does that mean that giving a chocolate bar to bullies could reduce their aggressiveness.   Sweets could result in some pleasure so that they would not feel hungry for pleasure?

One thing that has been known is that people who eat meats tend to be more aggressive than those who eat plant-based foods.  Because of this, is it possible that bullies should change their diet a bit to include more plant-based foods and less animal-based foods?