Callous-unemotional traits and neural responses to emotional faces in a community sample of young adults

Psychopathy and medial frontal cortex: A systematic review reveals predominantly null relationships

Theories have posited that psychopathy is caused by dysfunction in the medial frontal cortex, including ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Recent reviews have questioned the reproducibility of neuroimaging findings within this field. We conducted a systematic review to describe the consistency of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings according to anatomical subregion (vmPFC, ACC, dmPFC), experimental task, psychopathy assessment, study power, and peak coordinates of significant effects. Searches of PsycInfo and MEDLINE databases produced 77 functional and 24 structural MRI studies that analyzed the medial frontal cortex in relation to psychopathy in adult samples. Findings were predominantly null (85.4 % of 1573 tests across the three medial frontal regions). Studies with higher power observed null effects at marginally lower rates. Finally, peak coordinates of significant effects were widely dispersed. The evidence failed to support theories positing the medial frontal cortex as a consistent neural correlate of psychopathy. Theory and methods in the field should be revised to account for predominantly null neuroimaging findings.

The Moderating Role of Maternal CU Traits in the Stability of Justice-Involved Adolescents' CU Traits

OBJECTIVE

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with chronic and severe antisocial behavior. Although previous research has found that parents play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of youth CU traits, little research has examined the extent that parents' own CU traits impact the stability of their children's CU traits. The present study investigated the moderating role of maternal CU traits on developmental changes in youth CU traits.

METHOD

A sample of 346 mother-son dyads, in which all youth were justice-involved males (Mage = 15.81; 57.80% Latino, 20.52% White, 18.21% Black, 3.47% other race/ethnicity), across three states (California, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania) completed a semi-structured interview.

RESULTS

Youth exhibited a decrease in CU traits over 30 months. Mothers' CU traits moderated this relation, such that high maternal CU traits were associated with a smaller decrease in CU traits than low or average maternal CU traits, both when considering youth CU traits continuously and using a clinically significant cut score. The findings remained for continuous CU traits even after accounting for environmental factors (i.e., maternal warmth, maternal hostility, victimization, and witnessing violence), and these environmental factors did not vary over time.

CONCLUSION

The results highlight the importance of maternal influence in understanding how youth CU traits change over time, and have important implications for the use of parenting and family-level interventions among justice-involved youth.

Resting-state connectivity underlying cognitive control's association with perspective taking in callous-unemotional traits

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are often associated with impairments in perspective taking and cognitive control (regulating goal directed behavior); and adolescents with CU traits demonstrate aberrant brain activation/connectivity in areas underlying these processes. Together cognitive control and perspective taking are thought to link mechanistically to explain CU traits. Because increased cognitive control demands modulate perspective taking ability among both typically developing samples and individuals with elevated CU traits, understanding the neurophysiological substrates of these constructs could inform efforts to alleviate societal costs of antisocial behavior. The present study uses GIMME to examine the heterogenous functional brain properties (i.e., connection density, node centrality) underlying cognitive control's influence on perspective taking among adolescents on a CU trait continuum. Results reveal that cognitive control had a negative indirect association with CU traits via perspective taking; and brain connectivity indirectly associated with lower CU traits - specifically the social network via perspective taking and conflict network via cognitive control. Additionally, less negative connection density between the social and conflict networks was directly associated with higher CU traits. Our results support the growing literature on cognitive control's influence on socio-cognitive functioning in CU traits and extends that work by identifying underlying functional brain properties.

How reliable are amygdala findings in psychopathy? A systematic review of MRI studies

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.

Separate pathways to violent behavior in schizophrenia and in the general population

Violence in schizophrenia is best investigated within the broader context of violent behavior in the general population. Two important domains of general pathology which allow us to take such an approach include impairment in emotion processing, as manifested by faulty facial emotion recognition, and aggressive reactivity which consists of heightened sensitivity to provocation. To test this approach, we included 135 subjects: 38 violent (VS's) and 33 nonviolent patients with schizophrenia, 32 healthy controls and 32 non-psychotic violent subjects (NPV's). We measured violence with the Life History of Aggression Scale, recognition of facial emotions with the Emotion Recognition Task, and aggressive reactivity through the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Adolescent antisocial behavior was evaluated as a potential precursor to these deficits. We found that impairment in fear recognition (IFR) and aggressive reactivity have a significant effect on violence in the violent groups. These two impairments interact in different ways in these groups. In NPV's they contribute in an additive fashion to violence, whereas in VS's they represent separate pathways; aggressive reactivity leads to violence only when there is no IFR. Adolescent antisocial behavior has a differential effect on these 2 impairments in the 2 groups. Thus, these findings provide insights on the differential role of IFR and aggressive reactivity for violence in schizophrenia compared to the general population. In NPV's, both dysfunctions represent antisocial features and contribute jointly to violence. In schizophrenia, they have different etiologies and constitute alternative pathways to violence. This has important implications for the conceptualization and treatment of violence.

Circadian Variation of Migraine Attack Onset Affects fMRI Brain Response to Fearful Faces

Background

Previous studies suggested a circadian variation of migraine attack onset, although, with contradictory results – possibly because of the existence of migraine subgroups with different circadian attack onset peaks. Migraine is primarily a brain disorder, and if the diversity in daily distribution of migraine attack onset reflects an important aspect of migraine, it may also associate with interictal brain activity. Our goal was to assess brain activity differences in episodic migraine subgroups who were classified according to their typical circadian peak of attack onset.

Methods

Two fMRI studies were conducted with migraine without aura patients (n = 31 in Study 1, n = 48 in Study 2). Among them, three subgroups emerged with typical Morning, Evening, and Varying start of attack onset. Whole brain activity was compared between the groups in an implicit emotional processing fMRI task, comparing fearful, sad, and happy facial stimuli to neutral ones.

Results

In both studies, significantly increased neural activation was detected to fearful (but not sad or happy) faces. In Study 1, the Evening start group showed increased activation compared to the Morning start group in regions involved in emotional, self-referential (left posterior cingulate gyrus, right precuneus), pain (including left middle cingulate, left postcentral, left supramarginal gyri, right Rolandic operculum) and sensory (including bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right Heschl’s gyrus) processing. While in Study 2, the Morning start group showed increased activation compared to the Varying start group at a nominally significant level in regions with pain (right precentral gyrus, right supplementary motor area) and sensory processing (bilateral paracentral lobule) functions.

Conclusion

Our fMRI studies suggest that different circadian attack onset peaks are associated with interictal brain activity differences indicating heterogeneity within migraine patients and alterations in sensitivity to threatening fearful stimuli. Circadian variation of migraine attack onset may be an important characteristic to address in future studies and migraine prophylaxis.

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

Prominent theories suggest that disruptions in amygdala reactivity and connectivity when processing emotional cues are key to the etiology of youth antisocial behavior (AB) and that these associations may be dependent on co-occurring levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. We examined the associations among AB, CU traits, and amygdala reactivity and functional connectivity while viewing emotional faces (fearful, angry, sad, happy) in 165 adolescents (46% male; 73.3% African American) from a representative, predominantly low-income community sample. AB was associated with increased amygdala activation in response to all emotions and was associated with greater amygdala reactivity to emotion only at low levels of CU traits. AB and CU traits were also associated with distinct patterns of amygdala connectivity. These findings demonstrate that AB-related deficits in amygdala functioning may extend across all emotions and highlight the need for further research on amygdala connectivity during emotion processing in relation to AB and CU traits within community populations.

Is Callous Always Cold? A Critical Review of the Literature on Emotion and the Development of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children

Low emotional responsiveness is considered a core feature of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in childhood and, in the context of antisocial behavior, a precursor of psychopathic traits in adulthood. However, recent findings suggest that CU traits are not always characterized by low emotional responsiveness and the evidence base requires review. This review asks a fundamental question- 'Is callous always cold?'-with a specific focus on emotional responsiveness and CU traits in children with conduct problems (CPs). PRISMA review protocols were followed to identify literature reporting on emotional responsiveness for children 3-18 years with CPs and varying (high and low) CU traits. Results from eligible studies were contrasted by age (children 3-11 years, adolescents 12-18 years), emotional responsive measurement type (physiological, behavioral, self-report), emotion-eliciting stimuli type (interactive activities, static imagery, film) and socio-emotional context of the stimuli (other-orientated, self-orientated, neutral). This review highlights considerable variation in results across studies: reduced emotional responsiveness was not synonymous with participants demonstrating high CU traits. A more consistent picture of reduced emotional responsiveness in participants with high CU traits was found when studies used physiological measures, when stimuli were other-orientated in socio-emotional context, and in older, adolescent samples. In conclusion, this paper advocates for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between high CU traits and the specific factors involved in emotional responsiveness, ultimately suggesting that callous is not always cold. Given that emotional responsiveness is central to theories of moral development, these findings may suggest innovative approaches to early intervention.

Association between migraine frequency and neural response to emotional faces: An fMRI study

Previous studies have demonstrated that migraine is associated with enhanced perception and altered cerebral processing of sensory stimuli. More recently, it has been suggested that this sensory hypersensitivity might reflect a more general enhanced response to aversive emotional stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and emotional face stimuli (fearful, happy and sad faces), we compared whole-brain activation between 41 migraine patients without aura in interictal period and 49 healthy controls. Migraine patients showed increased neural activation to fearful faces compared to neutral faces in the right middle frontal gyrus and frontal pole relative to healthy controls. We also found that higher attack frequency in migraine patients was related to increased activation mainly in the right primary somatosensory cortex (corresponding to the face area) to fearful expressions and in the right dorsal striatal regions to happy faces. In both analyses, activation differences remained significant after controlling for anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that enhanced response to emotional stimuli might explain the migraine trigger effect of psychosocial stressors that gradually leads to increased somatosensory response to emotional clues and thus contributes to the progression or chronification of migraine.

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First fMRI study to explore neural response to emotional faces in migraine patients

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Migraine patients showed increased activation to fear in the right frontal regions

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Migraine frequency was related to enhanced activation to fearful and happy faces

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Activation in the right S1 and dorsal striatum was linked to migraine frequency

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Sensitivity to emotional stimuli might have a role in triggering migraine