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Charles Whitman’s behavior could be explained by the then unknown presence of a brain tumor pressing on the portion of the brain responsible for emotion and behavioral control at the time of his attack. This tumor likely caused that part of the brain to malfunction and led to the behavior and actions exhibited.

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I believe Charles Whitman's abnormal, horrific act was brought on by damage to the amygdala directly affecting his behavior. Damage to the amygdala can lead to mood disorders such as insanity or violence, as seen in Charles. It affects your emotions, sensitivity, and memory if damage is caused. I believe damage to his amygdala caused his rash, horrific behavior of murdering others.

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Charles Whitman is the man responsible for the mass shooting that took place at the University of Texas in 1996. This extreme act of aggression may have been linked back to the brain structure called the amygdala. This structure is located in the limbic system and controls emotion like anger and fear. It is likely that something may have triggered a malfunction in Whitman's amygdala, triggering what people may call his "breaking point" and acting out with ultimate aggression.

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Charles Whitman was an ex marine who killed many people in a mass shooting. As a child he watched his mother get beaten as well as getting beater himself by his father. He grew up around guns and knew how to use them. After his death a tumor was found in his brain. Scientists believe it may have affected his amygdala. Which controls emotions like anger and fear. After all his anger from his childhood and being at war built up, when his amygdala was altered he was not able to control that anger anymore. The anger was expressed through the mass shooting and the killing of his mother and wife.

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Charles Whitman suffered with anger issues through his life. This shooting could have been a reaction from his amygdala, which controls fear and aggression. This also could have been a problem in the cerebellum, which controls emotions. There was some type of trigger that day which set off his mood and turned him into a different person. Another cause could be his hippocampus, which controls memory. Maybe his mind was altering his memories, causing him to act out how he did.

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Charles Whitman had a tumor in his brain that spread to his amygdala. Once on the amygdala, Charles was unable to control his fear and anger, which caused him to act out and go on a killing spree.

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Why Whitman committed a mass shooting on his college campus in Texas in 1966 could be a result of many things. The most well suited reasoning to his crime is a deficit or surplus of neurotransmitters or multiple at the same time. In this case, Whitman could have been experiencing two different surplus'. He could have been experiences a surplus of dopamine causing a form of Schizophrenia in which he had voices in his head telling him to commit a shooting and he had no choice but to listen. Whitman also could have been experiencing a surplus of serotonin causing a sort of mania. He grew up with guns as a child and it mentioned he had an obsession. Obsession can be a form of mania because mania is an excessive desire or obsession. In this case he could have been experiencing both at one time causing him to commit such a horrendous crime.

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Charles Whitman had a tumor in his brain. It is likely that this tumor was putting pressure on Whitman's prefrontal cortex and causing his amygdala to misfire. The amygdala is responsible for controlling emotion and if damaged, symptoms can include lashing out in anger and being unable to control oneself.

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Not only did Whitman suffer from trauma from his childhood, which impacted his behavior, he also had a tumor. This tumor was positioned near/on top of his amygdala, which is what controls your emotions (specifically rage and aggression). With this position, it impacted his rage, which made him more prone to acting out. It also caused something called hypergraphia, which is an uncontrollable urge to write. Since this was very obviously evidenced in Whitman's writing, it allows for the assurance that his tumor is what caused his rage that day.

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Charles Whitman killed a large number of people in a very gruesome way. From the outside looking in this may have looked like something that happened with the flip of a switch, but actually many weeks prior there had been symptoms of mental illness. During these weeks leading up to the killing spree Charles bought lot's of guns and ammo and had been planning this out. This was clearly a very well thought out act. When they looked at Whitman's brain they found a large tumor on the Amygdala which blocks out certain emotional urges. This tumor is one of the reasons why Whitman committed these gruesome murders.

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You can use terms from throughout this unit to describe what was going on within Charles Whitman that could have made him begin shooting. Whitman could have had damage to his brain structures that impacted his ability to think clearly. For example, his Amygdala could have been overworked and caused him to feel overly aggressive, therefore acting violently. Whitman even murdered people who he was close to and loved, showing that he was not thinking or acting like his normal self. He murdered both his mother and his wife in each of their homes. His memories of love and happiness with them may have disappeared from his mind and he may have lost memory of who they were to him. The Hippocampus may have been damaged, altering or losing his memories. Also, Glutamate may have been involved with memory loss as well as it is the neurotransmitter that is associated with memory malfunctions.

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Charles Whitman did not seem abnormal until the day of his attack. The man killed his wife, mother, and multiple other innocent people for no particular reason. There must be a reason this regular man turned so vicious out of nowhere. As a Marine or just in everyday life, Charles could have somehow damaged his hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a vital part of a persons internal state. He also could have had PTSD, which many veterans endure after coming home from war. PSTD affects the amygdala and hippocampus, which deals with aggression and memory.

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Charles Whitman definitely has some health problems that relate to why he would ever do something like that.  When Charles was young he never gained attention from his father. He was anxious to get away from him, he couldn't go to college so he went into the marines were he learned how to shoot a gun. Using the hippocampus part of the brain he has a memory of shooting a gun in the marines when he is shooting the gun at the college. After he left the Marines he suffered from rage confusion and violent impulses. He is using the part of the brain called the amygdala. This relates to fear, he is traumatized by being in the marines and he is having flashbacks of what it was like which is resulting in rage and violence. On the day of the incident he wrote a suicide  note stating he hasn't been feeling himself and he has been having many irrational thoughts. This might be reacted to serotonin which affects mood and might be a result of the medication he was taking from the doctor that caused him to act like this. The autopsy reported a tumor but stated that it did not affect his behavior.

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In the video, it was mentioned that after an autopsy was conducted, Charles Whitman had a tumor in his brain; I believe the tumor was in his prefrontal cortex which drastically skewed his sense of reasoning and morality. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what the tumor did, but I predict it activated different receptors (similar to the function of an agonist drug) in a completely horrific way which may have helped add to the skewed morality. Perhaps it activated different receptors that increased serotonin when linked to his violent past involvement with guns; this would explain why he went on the rampage he did, because his perception of pleasure could have been terribly changed by the tumor. However, it could also be the opposite, blocking those types of receptors causing him severe depression and anxiety. Either way, the tumor inhibited his nervous system in a way that made it impossible for his hormones and neurotransmitters to function properly, leading to his psychotic episode

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Charles had possible damage to his amygdala. In the brain, the amygdala is apart of the limbic system. It controls the regulation of emotion. Since he had damage to it, it caused him to take bigger risks that her normally would not take. Which led to him killing all those people.

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Whitman could have committed this mass shooting on his college campus in Texas in 1996 because of a possible injury to the brain. He could have hurt his hypothalamus causing his pituitary gland to malfunction and make him do things he would not normally do.

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Charles Whitman was viewed as a regular, common man. On August 1st, 1966, that all changed. He woke up one morning and killed his girlfriend and mother, then proceeding to go to University of Texas, where he went to the top of the clock tower and sniped 12 people on the ground. There are numerous reasons to why he could have done this, one could be that he hit his head hard a day or two before the incident, causing his hypothalamus to be damaged. The hypothalamus is what helps someones coordination and internal state. This could have led him to convicting multiple murders. Another reason is there could have been malfunctions with Whitman´s neurotransmitters, as they could have been sending messages to his brain that could have conflicted this event.

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I think that Charles Whitman could have had a malfunction with the amygdala in his brain. His friends say that this behavior seemingly came out of nowhere, and a malfunction with the amygdala can change the individual's emotions quickly. In the example, the cat had two reactions, one of being fearful, and another of being aggressive after having had damage to their amygdala. Charles could have hit his head, or had some accident that lead to a malfunction in his brain, causing him to be really aggressive. He could have had bad memories with his wife and mother, and with aggression on his mind, he could have had the motive of revenge (unconscious or conscious) that was fueled by his aggression. He could have had a similarly bad experience at the college, and taken his aggression out on the students, linking their experience to his, and taking out revenge. This malfunction of the amygdala could have blinded him, in an almost trance state, where the only thing on his mind was aggression (and perhaps pushed in the three directions based on previous bad memories).

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Charles Whitman had a brain tumor that caused his amygdala to malfunction. This malfunction caused him to act out aggressively without understanding the reasoning behind his actions.

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We know that after Whitman died, it was revealed that there was a tumor in his brain. We also know that the part of the brain most associated with rage and violence is the amygala, which stimulates fear and agression in dangerous situations. Since Whitman had a brain tumor, this tumor could have been on or near his amygala, and caused problems with how his brain responded to things. If his amygdala was compromised, it could have caused him to react violently in a situation where he was not in danger.

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The reason Whitman committed a mass shooting was because of the tumor pressed against his amygdala. Because of the abnormality in this part of his brain, it led to an inability to control his actions and emotions. This part of the brain controls his anxiety and emotions.

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If I was analyzing Whitman, I would say he was experiencing some extreme anxiety possibly even paranoia due to Schizophrenia. These mental health issues could stem from many different things, including deficit or excess of certain neurotransmitters. Whitman fired upon a campus full of students, so clearly he was suffering from some mental disorder. Anxiety can stem from excess of GABA and Schizophrenia can be caused by dopamine surplus.

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Whitman's mental state stemmed off of the tumor he had in his brain. this could have spread and been detrimental to his amygdala. since he wouldn't have full control over his temperament, he ultimately decided it was too much for him to handle. this is similar to when someone may get mad and they want to throw or break something. except with Whitman's case, he literally couldn't control his anger.

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Charles Whitman's mass shooting can be explained by a malfunction in his amygdala. The amygdala is a part of the limbic system that when damaged, can process abnormal emotions and reactions. The massive brain tumor in Whitman's head led to this damage and contributed to the shooting in Texas.

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Charles Whitman may have suffered damage to the amygdala during war, therefore inciting excessive aggression and causing Whitman to commit a mass shooting.

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Why Charles Whitman committed a mass shooting

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Why Charles Whitman committed a mass shooting

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Charles Whitman committed a mass shooting because he had damage to his amygdala. His neurons in his brain were not responding correcting and he had over stimulation in the amygdala which controls aggression. This over stimulus caused him to make a rash and cruel decision to create a shooting at his college.