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Burghart M, Schmidt S, Mier D. Executive functions in psychopathy: a meta-analysis of inhibition, planning, shifting, and working memory performance. Psychol Med 2024:1-15. [PMID: 39229691 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291724001259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Much research has focused on executive function (EF) impairments in psychopathy, a severe personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, antisocial behavior, and a disregard for social norms and moral values. However, it is still unclear to what extent EF deficits are present across psychopathy factors and, more importantly, which EF domains are impaired. The current meta-analysis answers these questions by synthesizing the results of 50 studies involving 5,694 participants from 12 different countries. Using multilevel random-effects models, we pooled effect sizes (Cohen's d) for five different EF domains: overall EF, inhibition, planning, shifting, and working memory. Moreover, differences between psychopathy factors were evaluated. Our analyses revealed small deficits in overall EF, inhibition, and planning performance. However, a closer inspection of psychopathy factors indicated that EF deficits were specific to lifestyle/antisocial traits, such as disinhibition. Conversely, interpersonal/affective traits, such as boldness, showed no deficits and in some cases even improved EF performance. These findings suggest that EF deficits are not a key feature of psychopathy per se, but rather are related to antisociality and disinhibitory traits. Potential brain correlates of these findings as well as implications for future research and treatment are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Burghart
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Criminology, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Sergej Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Daniela Mier
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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Pasion R, Cruz AR, Barbosa F. Dissociable Effects of Psychopathic Traits on Executive Functioning: Insights From the Triarchic Model. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1713. [PMID: 30258389 PMCID: PMC6144192 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationship between executive functioning and psychopathy lacks consistent findings. The heterogeneity of the psychopathic personality structure may contribute to the mixed data that emerged from clinical-categorical approaches. Considering the link between antisocial behavior and executive dysfunction from the perspective of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy, it is suggested that executive impairments in psychopathy are specifically explained by meanness and disinhibition traits, reflecting externalizing vulnerability. In turn, boldness is conceptualized as an adaptive trait. The current study assessed updating (N-back), inhibition (Stroop), and shifting (Trail Making Test) in a forensic (n = 56) and non-forensic sample (n = 48) that completed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. A positive association between boldness and inhibition was found, while meanness accounted for the lack of inhibitory control. In addition, disinhibition explained updating dysfunction. These findings provide empirical evidence for dissociable effects of psychopathic traits on executive functioning, in light of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Pasion
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana R Cruz
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Fernando Barbosa
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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Delfin C, Andiné P, Hofvander B, Billstedt E, Wallinius M. Examining Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Executive Functions in Incarcerated Violent Offenders. Front Psychiatry 2018; 9:310. [PMID: 30050476 PMCID: PMC6050384 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) are essential in almost all aspects of daily life and have been robustly related to antisocial behavior. However, the relationship between psychopathy and EFs has remained equivocal. Research investigating lower-level trait dimensions of psychopathy using standardized EF measures could be beneficial in addressing this issue. In this study, we examined associations between four EFs and four dimensions of psychopathic traits (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial) using zero-order correlation and a combination of classical and Bayesian statistical methods. Two hundred and fourteen incarcerated male violent offenders were assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and completed tests of cognitive flexibility, spatial working memory, response inhibition, and planning and problem-solving using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Lifestyle psychopathic traits were significantly associated with reduced initial thinking time in a planning and problem-solving task, with a Bayes factor indicating substantial evidence for the observed correlation, and antisocial psychopathic traits showed a significant association with reduced initial thinking time in the same task, although the Bayes factor indicated only anecdotal evidence. Significant associations were also found between affective and antisocial psychopathic traits and less efficient strategic thinking in a spatial working memory task, and between affective, lifestyle and antisocial psychopathic traits and fewer problems solved in a planning and problem-solving task, although these findings were not corroborated by the Bayesian analysis. While the observed effects ranged between small and medium, our study suggests that reduced initial thinking times in planning and problem-solving is robustly associated with higher degrees of lifestyle and antisocial psychopathic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl Delfin
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Research and Development Unit, Regional Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Växjö, Sweden
| | - Peter Andiné
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Björn Hofvander
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Eva Billstedt
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Märta Wallinius
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Research and Development Unit, Regional Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Växjö, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Riby LM, Lai Teik Ong D, Azmie NBM, Ooi EL, Regina C, Yeo EKW, Massa J, Aquili L. Impulsiveness, postprandial blood glucose, and glucoregulation affect measures of behavioral flexibility. Nutr Res 2017; 48:65-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2017.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2017] [Revised: 09/02/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Schiffer B, Pawliczek C, Mu Ller B, Forsting M, Gizewski E, Leygraf N, Hodgins S. Neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control of men with lifelong antisocial behavior. Psychiatry Res 2014; 222:43-51. [PMID: 24530294 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2013] [Revised: 12/01/2013] [Accepted: 01/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Results of meta-analyses suggested subtle deficits in cognitive control among antisocial individuals. Because almost all studies focused on children with conduct problems or adult psychopaths, however, little is known about cognitive control mechanisms among the majority of persistent violent offenders who present an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). The present study aimed to determine whether offenders with ASPD, relative to non-offenders, display dysfunction in the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control and to assess the extent to which these dysfunctions are associated with psychopathic traits and trait impulsivity. Participants comprised 21 violent offenders and 23 non-offenders who underwent event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a non-verbal Stroop task. The offenders, relative to the non-offenders, exhibited reduced response time interference and a different pattern of conflict- and error-related activity in brain areas involved in cognitive control, attention, language, and emotion processing, that is, the anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal, superior temporal and postcentral cortices, putamen, thalamus, and amygdala. Moreover, between-group differences in behavioural and neural responses revealed associations with core features of psychopathy and attentional impulsivity. Thus, the results of the present study confirmed the hypothesis that offenders with ASPD display alterations in the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control and that those alterations relate, at least in part, to personality characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Schiffer
- Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL-University Hospital Bochum, Alexandrinenstr. 1-3, 44791 Bochum, Germany; Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
| | - Christina Pawliczek
- Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen, Germany
| | - Bernhard Mu Ller
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Michael Forsting
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University, Hospital Essen, Germany
| | - Elke Gizewski
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University, Hospital Essen, Germany; Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Norbert Leygraf
- Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Sheilagh Hodgins
- Département de Psychiatrie, Université de Montréal, Canada; Institute of Psychiatry, King´s College London, United Kingdom
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Brazil IA, Maes JHRM, Scheper I, Bulten BH, Kessels RPC, Verkes RJ, de Bruijn ERA. Reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy in explicit but not implicit learning conditions. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2013; 38:E13-20. [PMID: 23552501 PMCID: PMC3692728 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.120152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2012] [Revised: 01/17/2013] [Accepted: 02/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychopathy is a severe personality disorder that has been linked to impaired behavioural adaptation during reinforcement learning. Recent electrophysiological studies have suggested that psychopathy is related to impairments in intentionally using information relevant for adapting behaviour, whereas these impairments remain absent for behaviour relying on automatic use of information. We sought to investigate whether previously found impairments in response reversal in individuals with psychopathy also follow this dichotomy. We expected response reversal to be intact when the automatic use of information was facilitated. In contrast, we expected impaired response reversal when intentional use of information was required. METHODS We included offenders with psychopathy and matched healthy controls in 2 experiments with a probabilistic cued go/no-go reaction time task. The task implicated the learning and reversal of 2 predictive contingencies. In experiment 1, participants were not informed about the inclusion of a learning component, thus making cue-dependent learning automatic/incidental. In experiment 2, the instructions required participants to actively monitor and learn predictive relationships, giving learning a controlled/intentional nature. RESULTS While there were no significant group differences in acquisition learning in either experiment, the results revealed impaired response reversal in offenders with psychopathy when controlled learning was facilitated. Interestingly, this impairment was absent when automatic learning was predominant. LIMITATIONS Possible limitations are the use of a nonforensic control group and of self-report measures for drug use. CONCLUSION Response reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy are modulated by the context provided by the instructions, according to the distinction between automatic and controlled processing in these individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inti A Brazil
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Zeier JD, Baskin-Sommers AR, Hiatt Racer KD, Newman JP. Cognitive control deficits associated with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy. Personal Disord 2011; 3:283-93. [PMID: 22452754 DOI: 10.1037/a0023137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Antisociality has been linked to a variety of executive functioning deficits, including poor cognitive control. Surprisingly, cognitive control deficits are rarely found in psychopathic individuals, despite their notoriously severe and persistent antisocial behavior. In fact, primary (low-anxious) psychopathic individuals display superior performance on cognitive control-type tasks under certain circumstances. To clarify these seemingly contradictory findings, we administered a response competition (i.e., flanker) task to incarcerated offenders, who were assessed for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) symptoms and psychopathy. As hypothesized, APD related to poorer accuracy, especially on incongruent trials. Contrary to expectation, however, the same pattern of results was found in psychopathy. Additional analyses indicated that these effects of APD and psychopathy were associated with overlapping variance. The findings suggest that psychopathy and APD symptoms are both associated with deficits in cognitive control, and that this deficit relates to general antisociality as opposed to a specific antisocial syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua D Zeier
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
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Gao Y, Glenn AL, Schug RA, Yang Y, Raine A. The neurobiology of psychopathy: a neurodevelopmental perspective. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. REVUE CANADIENNE DE PSYCHIATRIE 2009; 54:813-23. [PMID: 20047720 DOI: 10.1177/070674370905401204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
We provide an overview of the neurobiological underpinnings of psychopathy. Cognitive and affective-emotional processing deficits are associated with abnormal brain structure and function, particularly the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. There is limited evidence of lower cortisol levels being associated with psychopathic personality. Initial developmental research is beginning to suggest that these neurobiological processes may have their origins early in life. Findings suggest that psychopathic personality may, in part, have a neurodevelopmental basis. Future longitudinal studies delineating neurobiological correlates of the analogues of interpersonal-affective and antisocial features of psychopathy in children are needed to further substantiate a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Gao
- Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
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Abstract
Psychopathy is a developmental disorder marked by emotional hypo-responsiveness and an increased risk for antisocial behavior. Influential attention-based accounts of psychopathy have long been made; however, these accounts have made relatively little reference to general models of attention in healthy individuals. This review has three aims: (1) to summarize current cognitive neuroscience data on differing attentional systems; (2) to examine the functional integrity of these attentional systems in individuals with psychopathy; and (3) to consider the implications of these data for attention and emotion dysfunction accounts of psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J R Blair
- Mood and Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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