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Deming P, Cook CJ, Meyerand ME, Kiehl KA, Kosson DS, Koenigs M. Impaired salience network switching in psychopathy. Behav Brain Res 2023; 452:114570. [PMID: 37421987 PMCID: PMC10527938 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that psychopathy is related to altered connectivity within and between three large-scale brain networks that support core cognitive functions, including allocation of attention. In healthy individuals, default mode network (DMN) is involved in internally-focused attention and cognition such as self-reference. Frontoparietal network (FPN) is anticorrelated with DMN and is involved in externally-focused attention to cognitively demanding tasks. A third network, salience network (SN), is involved in detecting salient cues and, crucially, appears to play a role in switching between the two anticorrelated networks, DMN and FPN, to efficiently allocate attentional resources. Psychopathy has been related to reduced anticorrelation between DMN and FPN, suggesting SN's role in switching between these two networks may be diminished in the disorder. To test this hypothesis, we used independent component analysis to derive DMN, FPN, and SN activity in resting-state fMRI data in a sample of incarcerated men (N = 148). We entered the activity of the three networks into dynamic causal modeling to test SN's switching role. The previously established switching effect of SN among young, healthy adults was replicated in a group of low psychopathy participants (posterior model probability = 0.38). As predicted, SN's switching role was significantly diminished in high psychopathy participants (t(145) = 26.39, p < .001). These findings corroborate a novel theory of brain function in psychopathy. Future studies may use this model to test whether disrupted SN switching is related to high psychopathy individuals' abnormal allocation of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Deming
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Cole J Cook
- Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1111 Highland Ave., Rm 1005, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Mary E Meyerand
- Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1111 Highland Ave., Rm 1005, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Kent A Kiehl
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical, 1101 Yale Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
| | - David S Kosson
- Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Michael Koenigs
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd., Madison, WI 53719, USA
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Disrupted topological organization of functional brain networks is associated with cognitive impairment in hypertension patients: a resting-state fMRI study. Neuroradiology 2023; 65:323-336. [PMID: 36219250 DOI: 10.1007/s00234-022-03061-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate the alterations of topological organization of the whole brain functional networks in hypertension patients with cognitive impairment (HTN-CI) and characterize its relationship with cognitive scores. METHODS Fifty-seven hypertension patients with cognitive impairment and 59 hypertension patients with normal cognition (HTN-NC), and 49 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Graph theoretical analysis was used to investigate the altered topological organization of the functional brain networks. The global topological properties and nodal metrics were compared among the three groups. Network-based statistic (NBS) analysis was used to determine the connected subnetwork. The relationships between network metrics and cognitive scores were also characterized. RESULTS HTN-CI patients exhibited significantly decreased global efficiency, lambda, and increased shortest path length when compared with HCs. In addition, both HTN-CI and HTN-NC groups exhibited altered nodal degree centrality and nodal efficiency in the right precentral gyrus. The disruptions of global network metrics (lambda, Lp) and the nodal metrics (degree centrality and nodal efficiency) in the right precentral gyrus were positively correlated with the MoCA scores in HTN-CI. NBS analysis demonstrated that decreased subnetwork connectivity was present both in the HTN-CI and HTN-NC groups, which were mainly involved in the default mode network, frontoparietal network, and cingulo-opercular network. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated the alterations of topographical organization and subnetwork connectivity of functional brain networks in HTN-CI. In addition, the global and nodal network properties were correlated with cognitive scores, which may provide useful insights for the understanding of neuropsychological mechanisms underlying HTN-CI.
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Tillem S, Conley MI, Baskin-Sommers A. Conduct disorder symptomatology is associated with an altered functional connectome in a large national youth sample. Dev Psychopathol 2022; 34:1573-1584. [PMID: 33851904 PMCID: PMC8753609 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579421000237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Conduct disorder (CD), characterized by youth antisocial behavior, is associated with a variety of neurocognitive impairments. However, questions remain regarding the neural underpinnings of these impairments. To investigate novel neural mechanisms that may support these neurocognitive abnormalities, the present study applied a graph analysis to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from a national sample of 4,781 youth, ages 9-10, who participated in the baseline session of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study (ABCD Study®). Analyses were then conducted to examine the relationships among levels of CD symptomatology, metrics of global topology, node-level metrics for subcortical structures, and performance on neurocognitive assessments. Youth higher on CD displayed higher global clustering (β = .039, 95% CIcorrected [.0027 .0771]), but lower Degreesubcortical (β = -.052, 95% CIcorrected [-.0916 -.0152]). Youth higher on CD had worse performance on a general neurocognitive assessment (β = -.104, 95% CI [-.1328 -.0763]) and an emotion recognition memory assessment (β = -.061, 95% CI [-.0919 -.0290]). Finally, global clustering mediated the relationship between CD and general neurocognitive functioning (indirect β = -.002, 95% CI [-.0044 -.0002]), and Degreesubcortical mediated the relationship between CD and emotion recognition memory performance (indirect β = -.002, 95% CI [-.0046 -.0005]). CD appears associated with neuro-topological abnormalities and these abnormalities may represent neural mechanisms supporting CD-related neurocognitive disruptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Tillem
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - May I Conley
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Deming P, Heilicher M, Koenigs M. How reliable are amygdala findings in psychopathy? A systematic review of MRI studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 142:104875. [PMID: 36116578 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala is a key component in predominant neural circuitry models of psychopathy. Yet, after two decades of neuroimaging research on psychopathy, the reproducibility of amygdala findings is questionable. We systematically reviewed MRI studies (81 of adults, 53 of juveniles) to determine the consistency of amygdala findings across studies, as well as within specific types of experimental tasks, community versus forensic populations, and the lowest- versus highest-powered studies. Three primary findings emerged. First, the majority of studies found null relationships between psychopathy and amygdala structure and function, even in the context of theoretically relevant tasks. Second, findings of reduced amygdala activity were more common in studies with low compared to high statistical power. Third, the majority of peak coordinates of reduced amygdala activity did not fall primarily within the anatomical bounds of the amygdala. Collectively, these findings demonstrate significant gaps in the empirical support for the theorized role of the amygdala in psychopathy and indicate the need for novel research perspectives and approaches in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Deming
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Mickela Heilicher
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd., Madison, WI 53719, USA
| | - Michael Koenigs
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd., Madison, WI 53719, USA
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Yoder KJ, Harenski CL, Kiehl KA, Decety J. Psychopathic traits modulate functional connectivity during pain perception and perspective-taking in female inmates. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 34:102984. [PMID: 35276604 PMCID: PMC8907686 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.102984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
PCL-R scores are associated with altered functional connectivity in female inmates. PCL-R Factor 1 and Factor 2 subscores predicted opposite shifts in connectivity. Functional connectivity in the salience network is altered during pain perception. Connectivity in the social cognition network is altered during perspective-taking.
The ability to share and understand the distress of others is critical for successful social interactions and is a fundamental building block of morality. Psychopathy is a personality disorder that includes lack of empathy and concern for others. In the present study, functional MRI was used to examine neural responses and functional connectivity associated with empathy and affective perspective-taking in female inmates (N = 109) with various levels of psychopathic traits, as measured with Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Participants viewed hands and feet in painful or non-painful situations while adopting a first person or third person perspective. All participants demonstrated robust neural responses in anterior insula (aINS), anterior cingulate (ACC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and supplementary motor area (SMA) when viewing pain, both during imagine-self and imagine-other blocks. Psychopathy shifted the functional connectivity seeded in core nodes of the salience and social cognition networks. Perceiving stimuli depicting somatic pain led to decreased functional coupling from right temporoparietal junction to superior temporal sulcus, which correlated with scores on PCL-R Factor 1 (Affective/Interpersonal). In contrast, connectivity from right insula to precuneus increased with Factor 2 (Lifestyle/Antisocial) scores. When adopting a third-person perspective, psychopathic traits modulated connectivity from the social cognition network, but not the salience network, with Factor 1 scores associated with increased connectivity to sensorimotor cortex and temporal pole, while Factor 2 scores were associated with decreased connectivity with ACC/SMA and inferior frontal gyrus. Overall, these results demonstrate that psychopathic traits in incarcerated females are associated with atypical functional connectivity within the salience network during pain-empathy processing and within the social cognition network during affective perspective-taking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith J Yoder
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
| | - Carla L Harenski
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical, Albuquerque, NM, United States; Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Kent A Kiehl
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical, Albuquerque, NM, United States; Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Jean Decety
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
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Abstract
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a constellation of affective, interpersonal, lifestyle and antisocial features whose antecedents can be identified in a subgroup of young people showing severe antisocial behaviour. The prevalence of psychopathy in the general population is thought to be ~1%, but is up to 25% in prisoners. The aetiology of psychopathy is complex, with contributions of both genetic and environmental risk factors, and gene-environment interactions and correlations. Psychopathy is characterized by structural and functional brain abnormalities in cortical (such as the prefrontal and insular cortices) and subcortical (for example, the amygdala and striatum) regions leading to neurocognitive disruption in emotional responsiveness, reinforcement-based decision-making and attention. Although no effective treatment exists for adults with psychopathy, preliminary intervention studies targeting key neurocognitive disturbances have shown promising results. Given that psychopathy is often comorbid with other psychiatric disorders and increases the risk of physical health problems, educational and employment failure, accidents and criminality, the identification of children and young people at risk for this personality disorder and preventative work are important. Indeed, interventions that target the antecedents of psychopathic features in children and adolescents have been found to be effective.
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Impaired global efficiency in boys with conduct disorder and high callous unemotional traits. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 138:560-568. [PMID: 33991994 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.04.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Callous unemotional (CU) traits differentiate subtypes of conduct disorder (CD). It has been suggested that CU traits may be related to topographical irregularities that hinder information integration. To date, there is limited evidence of whether CU traits may be associated with abnormal brain topology. In this study, 43 CD boys with high and low CU trait (CD-HCU, CD-LCU), and 46 healthy controls (HCs) were subjected to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how CU trait level and conduct problems may be reflected in topological organization. Brain functional networks were constructed and network/nodal properties, including small-world properties and network/nodal efficiency, were calculated. Topological analysis revealed that, compared with HCs, CD-HCU group were characterized by decreased small-worldness (σ), decreased global efficiency, and increased path length (λ). These variables were similar between the CD-LCU and HC groups. Self-reported CU traits in CD patients correlated negatively with global efficiency and positively with λ. Regional analysis revealed diminished nodal efficiency in the right amygdala in the CD-HCU group compared with HCs. The present results suggest that disrupted global efficiency, together with a regional abnormality affecting the amygdala, may contribute to abnormal information processing and integration in adolescents with CD and high CU traits.
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Psychopathy is associated with an exaggerated attention bottleneck: EEG and behavioral evidence from a dual-task paradigm. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 21:881-893. [PMID: 33821459 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00891-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Psychopathy is a personality disorder associated with a chronic disregard for the welfare of others. The attention bottleneck model of psychopathy asserts that the behavior of individuals higher on psychopathy is due to an exaggerated attention bottleneck that constrains all information processing, regardless of the information's potential goal-relevance. To date, the majority of research on the attention bottleneck model of psychopathy conceptually applied the tenets of the model but did not implement methods that directly test an exaggeration of the bottleneck in psychopathy. Accordingly, the presence of an exaggerated bottleneck, the exact expression of that bottleneck, and its potential mechanistic relevance for behavior in individuals higher on psychopathy remains untested. To address these gaps, a sample of 78 male community members, evaluated for psychopathic traits using the Self-Report Psychopathy-III scale, completed an EEG-based dual-task paradigm examining short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA; 300 ms), long SOA (1,100 ms), and single-task baseline conditions. Additionally, participants were asked about their frequency of real-world risky, impulsive, and antisocial behaviors. Psychopathy was associated with slower reaction times to second targets (T2s) presented during the dual-task conditions, relative to the baseline condition. Psychopathy also was associated with blunted P300 responses, a neural index of stimulus evaluation, across all types of T2 events. Finally, bottleneck-related interference during the short SOA events mediated the relationship between psychopathy and real-world behavior. These findings suggested that individuals higher on psychopathy exhibit an exaggerated bottleneck which produces intense and long-lasting interference, impacting all information processing and partially contributing to their maladaptive behavior.
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Yoder KJ, Harenski C, Kiehl KA, Decety J. Neural responses to morally laden interactions in female inmates with psychopathy. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 30:102645. [PMID: 33838544 PMCID: PMC8045040 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Much of social cognition requires making inferences about the mental and emotional states of others. Moreover, understanding the emotions of others is an important foundation for moral decision-making. Psychopathy is associated with both aberrant emotional understanding and atypical hemodynamic responses when viewing and evaluating morally laden social interactions. In the present functional MRI study, female inmates (N = 107) were asked to evaluate the likely emotional state of either the recipient or the initiator of harmful or helpful interactions. Psychopathy was assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). PCL-R scores were not associated with differences in confidence or accuracy ratings. However, psychopathy scores were significantly related to increased hemodynamic response in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex when viewing harmful interactions and decreased functional connectivity from right amygdala to inferior parietal cortex and insula, and from temporal parietal junction to dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Overall, this work indicates that in females, psychopathy is associated with normal behavioral accuracy and confidence but alterations in neural network activity during moral decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith J Yoder
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Carla Harenski
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Kent A Kiehl
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Jean Decety
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Psychiatry, and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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Connections that characterize callousness: Affective features of psychopathy are associated with personalized patterns of resting-state network connectivity. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2020; 28:102402. [PMID: 32891038 PMCID: PMC7479442 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
There was significant heterogeneity in participants’ neural networks. Psychopathy associated with default mode-central executive network connectivity. Associations were specific to affective psychopathic traits.
Background Psychopathic traits are hypothesized to be associated with dysfunction across three resting-state networks: the default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and central executive (CEN). Past work has not considered heterogeneity in the neural networks of individuals who display psychopathic traits, which is likely critical in understanding the etiology of psychopathy and could underlie different symptom presentations. Thus, this study maps person-specific resting state networks and links connectivity patterns to features of psychopathy. Methods We examined resting-state functional connectivity among eight regions of interest in the DMN, SN, and CEN using a person-specific, sparse network mapping approach (Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation) in a community sample of 22-year-old men from low-income, urban families (N = 123). Associations were examined between a dimensional measure of psychopathic traits and network density (i.e., number of connections within and between networks). Results There was significant heterogeneity in neural networks of participants, which were characterized by person-specific connections and no common connections across the sample. Psychopathic traits, particularly affective traits, were associated with connection density between the DMN and CEN, such that greater density was associated with elevated psychopathic traits. Discussion Findings emphasize that neural networks underlying psychopathy are highly individualized. However, individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits had increased density in connections between the DMN and CEN, networks that have been linked with self-referential thinking and executive functioning. Taken together, the results highlight the utility of person-specific approaches in modeling neural networks underlying psychopathic traits, which could ultimately inform personalized prevention and intervention strategies.
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Lengvenyte A, Vieta E. Association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and violent crime - could underlying psychopathology be the cause? Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 36:151-153. [PMID: 32475743 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Aiste Lengvenyte
- Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Psychiatric Clinic, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Eduard Vieta
- Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
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