Aberrant paralimbic gray matter in criminal psychopathy

Psychopaths impose large costs on society, as they are frequently habitual, violent criminals. The pervasive nature of emotional and behavioral symptoms in psychopathy suggests that several associated brain regions may contribute to the disorder. Studies employing a variety of methods have converged on a set of brain regions in paralimbic cortex and limbic areas that appear to be dysfunctional in psychopathy. The present study further tests this hypothesis by investigating structural abnormalities using voxel-based morphometry in a sample of incarcerated men (N=296). Psychopathy was associated with decreased regional gray matter in several paralimbic and limbic areas, including bilateral parahippocampal, amygdala, and hippocampal regions, bilateral temporal pole, posterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. The consistent identification of paralimbic cortex and limbic structures in psychopathy across diverse methodologies strengthens the interpretation that these regions are crucial for understanding neural dysfunction in psychopathy.     

Paralimbic Gray Matter Reductions in Incarcerated Adolescent Females with Psychopathic Traits

Psychopathy-related paralimbic and limbic structural brain abnormalities have been implicated in incarcerated adult and adolescent male samples. However, there have been few neuroimaging studies of psychopathic traits in females in general and no studies from incarcerated female youth in particular. Here we present the first study to examine the relationship between brain gray matter volumes and psychopathic traits (assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version [PCL-YV]) in a sample of maximum-security incarcerated female adolescents (N?=?39; mean age?=?17.6 years). Consistent with male samples, regional gray matter volumes were negatively related to psychopathic traits in female youth offenders in limbic and paralimbic areas, including orbitofrontal cortex, parahippocampal cortex, temporal poles, and left hippocampus. These results provide evidence that psychopathic traits manifest similar neural abnormalities across sex and age.     

The etiology of psychopathy: A neuropsychological perspective

While there is no universally accepted cause of psychopathy, there are basic biological patterns in brain dysfunction observed in individuals who display psychopathic tendencies. These individuals show significant impairment in specific regions of the brain, particularly the orbital frontal cortex (OFC). Such abnormalities exist in brain areas most involved in impulse control and behavior inhibition. There are also significant environmental factors that the majority of these individuals have in common. For example, a strong correlation exists between attachment disorder and anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). Finally, the differences between ASPD, psychopathy, and sociopathy are considered. While these terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences between these psychopathologies.     

Reversal Learning Deficits in Criminal Offenders: Effects of Psychopathy,Substance use,and Childhood Maltreatment History

Deficits in reinforcement learning are presumed to underlie the impulsive and incorrigible behavior exhibited by psychopathic criminals. However, previous studies documenting reversal learning impairments in psychopathic individuals have not investigated this relationship across a continuous range of psychopathy severity, nor have they examined how reversal learning impairments relate to different psychopathic traits, such as the interpersonal-affective and lifestyle-antisocial dimensions. Furthermore, previous studies have not considered the role that childhood maltreatment and substance use may have in this specific cognitive deficit. Using a standard reversal learning task in a sample of N = 114 incarcerated male offenders, we demonstrate a significant relationship between psychopathy severity and reversal learning errors. Furthermore, we show a significant interaction between psychopathy and childhood maltreatment, but not substance use, such that individuals high in psychopathy with an extensive history of maltreatment committed the greatest number of reversal learning errors. These findings extend the current understanding of reversal learning performance among psychopathic individuals, and highlight the importance of considering childhood maltreatment when studying psychopathy.     

Psychopathic traits associated with abnormal hemodynamic activity in salience and default mode networks during auditory oddball task

Psychopathy is a personality disorder accompanied by abnormalities in emotional processing and attention. Recent theoretical applications of network-based models of cognition have been used to explain the diverse range of abnormalities apparent in psychopathy. Still, the physiological basis for these abnormalities is not well understood. A significant body of work has examined psychopathy-related abnormalities in simple attention-based tasks, but these studies have largely been performed using electrocortical measures, such as event-related potentials (ERPs), and they often have been carried out among individuals with low levels of psychopathic traits. In this study, we examined neural activity during an auditory oddball task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a simple auditory target detection (oddball) task among 168 incarcerated adult males, with psychopathic traits assessed via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Event-related contrasts demonstrated that the largest psychopathy-related effects were apparent between the frequent standard stimulus condition and a task-off, implicit baseline. Negative correlations with interpersonal-affective dimensions (Factor 1) of the PCL-R were apparent in regions comprising default mode and salience networks. These findings support models of psychopathy describing impaired integration across functional networks. They additionally corroborate reports which have implicated failures of efficient transition between default mode and task-positive networks. Finally, they demonstrate a neurophysiological basis for abnormal mobilization of attention and reduced engagement with stimuli that have little motivational significance among those with high psychopathic traits.     

Anomalous moral intuitions in juvenile offenders with psychopathic traits

Since the historical conception of psychopathy, researchers have been interested in understanding moral functioning among psychopathic individuals. The present study investigated the association between psychopathic traits and moral intuitions among incarcerated juvenile offenders (N = 178). Participants were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist:Youth Version (Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003) and the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (Graham et al., 2011), which defines five core moral foundations: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. As expected, psychopathy in juvenile offenders negatively predicted endorsement of all five foundations. This study is the first to demonstrate broad abnormalities in Haidt et al.’s moral foundations in a juvenile sample and can help explain delinquent behavior in juveniles with psychopathic traits. Implications for theories of psychopathy are discussed.     

Autismus oder „Psychopathy“?

According to the concept of Hare autism spectrum disorders and psychopathy are associated with a strong deficit in empathy. However, empathy deficits in patients suffering from autism spectrum disorders and empathy deficits in individuals with psychopathic personality traits appear to be different. Some authors described the comorbid occurrence of psychopathic personality traits/psychopathy in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The following article aims to approach this differential diagnostic problem by a brief review of the literature on a casuistic basis. This article reports the case of a highly remarkable 17-year-old adolescent. The case will be discussed according to the construct of psychopathy with reference to the concept of Hare.     

Brain abnormalities observed in childhood-onset schizophrenia: a review of the structural magnetic resonance imaging literature

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is a rare, severe form of schizophrenia in which there are structural brain abnormalities that may be related to the psychotic symptomatology and neurocognitive deficits found in these patients. While there are numerous structural imaging studies of the adult-onset variant of schizophrenia (with many conflicting findings), relatively few brain imaging studies of COS have been conducted. This paper summarizes the extant literature of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of structural brain abnormalities in COS, and compares findings to similar studies of adult-onset patients. Volumetric MRI studies of COS patients have consistently shown evidence for increased ventricular volume, reduced cerebral gray matter, and increased caudate volume, consistent with findings from adult-onset studies. Other volumetric brain abnormalities are observed in COS patients, such as reduced total brain volume, but not consistently across all studies. Voxel-based morphometric analyses have revealed abnormalities in the shape and spatial location of structures in COS such as the corpus callosum, caudate, and thalamus that could not be observed in the more traditional volumetric assessments. Similar findings also are observed in adult-onset patients. Progressive degenerative changes, such as ventricular enlargement, appear to occur in COS only until young adulthood where there is an apparent asymptote with no further degenerative changes. This is consistent with the lack of progressive changes noted in most longitudinal studies of adult-onset schizophrenia.     

Recognition of facial affect in psychopathic offenders

The authors examined the reliability of facial affect processing deficits found in psychopathic individuals (R. Blair et al., 2004) and whether they could be modified by attentional set. One hundred eleven offenders, classified using the Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (R. Hare, 2003) and Welsh Anxiety Scale (G. Welsh, 1956), performed a facial affect recognition task under 2 conditions. On the basis of research linking psychopathy, amygdala dysfunction, and deficits in facial affect recognition, the authors predicted that psychopathic offenders would display performance deficits when required to identify the emotional expression of particular faces. In addition, given evidence linking the affective processing deficits in psychopathy to focus of attention, the authors predicted that any deficits in facial affect processing would disappear when participants could anticipate which affective cues would be relevant on a given trial. Contrary to expectation, psychopathic offenders performed as well as controls in both conditions. The authors conclude that the conditions that reveal affective deficits in psychopathic individuals require further specification.     

Psychopathy and verbal emotion processing in non-incarcerated males

Incarcerated males who score high on personality measures of psychopathy are reported to be less efficient than other incarcerated males in processing emotionally laden stimuli. In this study, we evaluated whether an emotion deficit is also present in non-incarcerated higher functioning males who score high on psychopathy personality measures. A sample of male university students was screened for psychopathic personality, and two subsamples, those who scored high or low on global psychopathy, participated in a series of language processing tasks designed to assess verbal emotion processing. Unlike previous studies of emotion processing in the verbal domain, stimuli also systematically varied in abstractness. The results showed that participants scoring high in psychopathy were less efficient than those scoring low in psychopathy in processing negatively valenced words, across all levels of word abstractness. The results extend previous accounts of emotional processing deficits in individuals with psychopathic personality to a relatively high-functioning non-incarcerated sample.     

‘Biologizing’ Psychopathy: Ethical,Legal, and Research Implications at the Interface of Epigenetics and Chronic Antisocial Conduct

Epigenetics, a field that links genetics and environmental influences on the expression of phenotypic traits, offers to increase our understanding of the development and trajectory of disease and psychological disorders beyond that thought of traditional genetic research and behavioural measures. By extension, this new perspective has implications for risk and risk management of antisocial behaviour where there is a biological component, such as psychopathy. Psychopathy is a personality disorder associated with repeat displays of antisocial behaviour, and is associated with the disproportionate imposition of harm on communities. Despite advances in our knowledge of psychopathic individuals, the construct remains complex and is hampered by a lack of integration across a range of fundamental domains. The clinical and forensic research on psychopathy is brought into conversation with the emerging field of epigenetics to highlight critical issues of (1) clinical definition and diagnosis, (2) assessment, (3) aetiology of psychopathic phenotypes, and (4) treatment and rehabilitation approaches. Broader ethical and legal questions of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the management of psychopathy beyond the criminal justice arena are also outlined. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Processing speed in normal aging: Effects of white matter hyperintensities and hippocampal volume loss

Changes in cognitive functioning are said to be part of normal aging. Quantitative MRI has made it possible to measure structural brain changes during aging which may underlie these decrements which include slowed information processing and memory loss. Much has been written on white matter hyperintensities (WMH), which are associated with cognitive deficits on tasks requiring processing speed and executive functioning, and hippocampal volume loss, which is associated with memory decline. Here we examine volumetric MRI measures of WMH and hippocampal volume loss together in relation to neuropsychological tests considered to be measures of executive functioning and processing speed in 81 non-demented elderly individuals, aged 75–90. Correlational analysis showed that when controlling for age, both greater WMH volume and smaller hippocampal volume were correlated with slower performances on most tests with the exception of a battery of continuous performance tests in which only WMH was correlated with slower reaction time (RT). We then performed a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the independent contributions of greater WMH volume and reduced hippocampal volume to executive functioning and processing speed. The results showed that for the four measures requiring executive functioning and speed of processing, WMH volume and hippocampal volume combined predicted between 21.4% and 37% of the explained variance. These results suggest that WM integrity and hippocampal volume influence cognitive decline independently on tasks involving processing speed and executive function independent of age.     

An inter-hemispheric imbalance in the psychopath’s brain

Psychopathy is associated with two extremities. On the one hand, psychopathic individuals lack any concern for social norms and they are severely poor in maintaining healthy social relationships. In addition, the ability of individuals with psychopathy to feel certain emotions such as empathy, guilt or fear is seriously compromised. In contrast to these deficits, some behaviors and tendencies are exaggerated in psychopathy. For instance, psychopathic individuals display higher than normal impulsivity, stimulation-seeking, aggression and risk-taking. There are indications in the literature that pro-social behavior, as well as the feelings of empathy, guilt and fear are mediated predominantly by regions within the right hemisphere (RH), whereas impulsivity, stimulation-seeking, aggression and risk-taking are linked primarily with left hemisphere (LH) activity. From a neurobiological perspective, it seems that psychopathy may be associated with an altered and imbalanced inter-hemispheric dynamics; a relatively hyperfunctioning LH and/or a hypofunctioning RH. Furthermore, within the psychopathic population, the RH hypofunctioning is more characteristic of primary psychopathy with its affective and interpersonal deficits, while the LH hyperfunctioning is most typical of the secondary psychopathy which is marked by impulsivity and antisocial style.     

Can psychopathic offenders discern moral wrongs? A new look at the moral/conventional distinction

A prominent view of psychopathic moral reasoning suggests that psychopathic individuals cannot properly distinguish between moral wrongs and other types of wrongs. The present study evaluated this view by examining the extent to which 109 incarcerated offenders with varying degrees of psychopathy could distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions relative to each other and to nonincarcerated healthy controls. Using a modified version of the classic Moral/Conventional Transgressions task that uses a forced-choice format to minimize strategic responding, the present study found that total psychopathy score did not predict performance on the task. Task performance was explained by some individual subfacets of psychopathy and by other variables unrelated to psychopathy, such as IQ. The authors conclude that, contrary to earlier claims, insufficient data exist to infer that psychopathic individuals cannot know what is morally wrong.     

Psychopathic Traits and Physiological Responses to Aversive Stimuli in Children Aged 9–11 Years

Atypical eletrodermal and cardiovascular response patterns in psychopathic individuals are thought to be biological indicators of fearless and disinhibition. This study investigated the relationship between psychopathic traits and these autonomic response patterns using a countdown task in 843 children (aged 9-10?years). Heart rate (HR) and non-specific skin conductance responses (NS-SCRs) were recorded while participants anticipated and reacted to 105?dB signaled or un-signaled white-noise bursts. Using multilevel regression models, both larger HR acceleration and fewer NS-SCR were found to be significantly associated with psychopathic traits during anticipation of signaled white-noise bursts. However, two divergent patterns appeared for HR and SCR: (1) larger HR acceleration was specific to the callousness-disinhibition factor of psychopathic traits while reduced NS-SCR was only associated with the manipulative-deceitfulness factor; (2) the negative association between the manipulative-deceitfulness factor and NS-SCR was only found in boys but not in girls. These findings replicated what has been found in psychopathic adults, suggesting that autonomic deficits present in children at risk may predispose them to later psychopathy. The divergent findings across psychopathic facets and sexes raised the possibility of different etiologies underlying psychopathy, which may in turn suggest multiple treatment strategies for boys and girls.     

Differentiating emotional processing and attention in psychopathy with functional neuroimaging

Individuals with psychopathy are often characterized by emotional processing deficits, and recent research has examined the specific contexts and cognitive mechanisms that underlie these abnormalities. Some evidence suggests that abnormal features of attention are fundamental to emotional deficits in persons with psychopathy, but few studies have demonstrated the neural underpinnings responsible for such effects. Here, we use functional neuroimaging to examine attention–emotion interactions among incarcerated individuals (n = 120) evaluated for psychopathic traits using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R). Using a task designed to manipulate attention to emotional features of visual stimuli, we demonstrate effects representing implicit emotional processing, explicit emotional processing, attention-facilitated emotional processing, and vigilance for emotional content. Results confirm the importance of considering mechanisms of attention when evaluating emotional processing differences related to psychopathic traits. The affective-interpersonal features of psychopathy (PCL-R Factor 1) were associated with relatively lower emotion-dependent augmentation of activity in visual processing areas during implicit emotional processing, while antisocial-lifestyle features (PCL-R Factor 2) were associated with elevated activity in the amygdala and related salience network regions. During explicit emotional processing, psychopathic traits were associated with upregulation in the medial prefrontal cortex, insula, and superior frontal regions. Isolating the impact of explicit attention to emotional content, only Factor 1 was related to upregulation of activity in the visual processing stream, which was accompanied by increased activity in the angular gyrus. These effects highlight some important mechanisms underlying abnormal features of attention and emotional processing that accompany psychopathic traits.     

Psychopathy traits and the processing of emotion words: Results of a lexical decision task

Research has indicated that individuals possessing psychopathic traits exhibit a deficit in the processing of emotional stimuli. Lexical decision task studies found that psychopathic individuals do not demonstrate affective facilitation in processing emotional words relative to nonpsychopathic individuals. However, these investigations have not examined processing of discrete affective categories and their relation to the callous/unemotional (F1) and impulse control/antisocial (F2) factors of psychopathy. Sixty undergraduate men completed a self-report measure of psychopathy traits and a lexical decision task assessing response latencies to anger, sadness, fear, and happiness words. Results reflected an association between F2 and a heightened experience of anger, whereas F1 was associated with a diminished experience of sadness. Findings are discussed in terms of the relation to existing research using alternative methods of processing affect.     

Investigating the Components of Psychopathic Traits in Youth Offenders

Despite widespread acceptance of the importance of psychopathic traits in youth, the relative importance of different components of psychopathy remains controversial. This study was conducted to examine whether the interpersonal and lifestyle facets of psychopathy as measured with a valid clinical measure of psychopathic traits contribute to predicting relevant external criteria on top of the contributions of the affective facet. To address this issue, we conducted multiple regressions predicting antisocial behavior, exposure to violence, and psychopathology in a sample of 225 incarcerated adolescents. Results indicated that ratings on the affective component of psychopathy were important in helping to explain variance in many of the external criterion variables but that ratings on the interpersonal and lifestyle facets also helped to explain unique variance in a range of criteria including violent and non-violent crime, exposure to violence, impulsivity, and anger expression. These studies suggest that multiple components of psychopathy are likely to be important both in predicting real world outcomes and in understanding mechanisms involved in the development and manifestation of these traits.     

Is there a psychopathic element in adolescent drinking? A longitudinal study

While previous studies have examined the relationship between psychopathic traits and alcohol use in adolescents, limited empirical investigations of the longitudinal bidirectional effects of psychopathic traits and alcohol use have been conducted for this age-group. The purpose of the present study was to examine the longitudinal associations among adolescent’s psychopathic traits and their alcohol use, in order to illustrate the directional causal relationship between the two constructs, taking into account demographic effects. Participants were 334 adolescents from Cyprus. The participants responded to self-report questionnaires in two consecutive measurements within a six-month interval. Data were analyzed with cross-lagged structural equation modelling. Results indicated that the Dependence alcohol symptoms in Time 1 were significant predictors of the Interpersonal dimension of psychopathy in T2, and the Behavioural dimension of psychopathy in T1 was a significant predictor of Dependence alcohol symptoms in T2, regardless of previous levels of psychopathy and alcohol use, gender and age effects. Implications for research are discussed.     

Neuroticism and psychopathy predict brain activation during moral and nonmoral emotion regulation

Functional neuroimaging has identified brain regions associated with voluntary regulation of emotion, including the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. The neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in emotion regulation have not been extensively studied. We investigated the neural correlates of neuroticism and psychopathic personality traits in the context of an emotion regulation task. Results showed that amygdala activity elicited by unpleasant pictures was positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with a specific psychopathic trait related to emotional underreactivity. During active attempts to decrease emotional responses to unpleasant pictures, superior and ventrolateral prefrontal activity was positively correlated with psychopathy, but not with neuroticism. In contrast, dorsolateral prefrontal activity was positively correlated with neuroticism, but not with psychopathy. Psychopathy was also negatively correlated with medial prefrontal activity in response to pictures depicting moral violations, suggesting reduced emotional responses to moral stimuli in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits. These results demonstrate dissociable influences of different personality traits on neural activity associated with responses to emotional stimuli and on the recruitment of regulation-related brain activity during the active down-regulation of responses to negative emotional stimuli. These results have implications for the etiology of trait-based psychopathology involving emotional dysregulation.