Psychopathic and externalizing offenders display dissociable dysfunctions when responding to facial affect

Psychopathy and gaze cueing

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Psychopathic traits - and especially callous affective features - have been linked to altered processing of others' emotional expressions, and to reduced attention to the eyes. Despite the importance of gaze cueing (i.e., the tendency to orient attention toward where someone else is looking) for social functioning, few studies have investigated relationships between psychopathic traits and gaze cueing, and whether facial emotional expression influence these relationships, obtaining mixed results. To address this gap, the present study aimed to evaluate associations between psychopathic traits and gaze cueing for emotional and neutral expressions.

METHODS

65 non-clinical male participants (Mage = 27.3 years) completed two self-report measures of psychopathy and performed laboratory tasks to assess gaze-cueing for emotional vs. neutral faces and an arrow-cueing task as a comparison.

RESULTS

Linear mixed models showed no significant associations of emotional (versus neutral) expressions, or psychopathy trait dimensions, with either gaze cueing or arrow cueing.

LIMITATIONS

Reliance on a convenience sample of non-clinical men, assessed with self-reports measures of psychopathy, and using static emotional stimuli limit the generalizability of our findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that psychopathic traits are not associated with individual differences in following others' gaze to direct attention, and that there was no advantage for affective relative to neutral expressions.

Resisting aggression in social contexts: The influence of life-course persistent antisocial behavior on behavioral and neural responses to social feedback

•

Negative social feedback (vs positive / neutral) evoked more retaliatory aggression.

•

Persistent and desistent antisocial development associated with similar and dissociable neural activity:

•

During social feedback processing: Increased Insula (both groups) or dlPFC activation (desisters)

•

During retaliation: Increased dlPFC and ACC activity after positive feedback.

•

During retaliation: ACC activity correlated with inhibition of retaliation (desisters)

Early adulthood has long been recognized as a potential turning point for the development of antisocial behavior, due to changes in social contexts and ongoing psychological and neurobiological maturation. However, it remains unclear how different developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior, their neural underpinnings, and individual differences in psychopathic traits may help explain the distinct developmental outcomes of individuals who persist in or desist from antisocial behavior in early adulthood - such as how they respond to others in social contexts. Therefore, in the current study, young adults (aged 18–30, 68% male) with a persistent or desistant antisocial trajectory (N = 54), as well as healthy controls (N = 39), completed the Social Network Aggression Task, during which they received positive, neutral, or negative feedback on a personal profile and got the opportunity to retaliate by blasting a loud noise. On a behavioral level, results indicated that in all groups, negative peer feedback evoked higher retaliatory aggression, compared to positive and neutral feedback. On a neural level, when receiving social feedback, individuals with persistent or desistent trajectories showed both similar and dissociable patterns of neural activity; desisting and persisting trajectory groups showed higher activity in the Insula, and the desisting trajectory group showed higher activity in dlPFC. Finally, when participants retaliated, they showed increased dlPFC and ACC activity following positive relative to neutral and negative feedback, where ACC activity correlated most strongly with inhibition of retaliatory responses in the desisting trajectory group. Together, these findings provide novel insights in dissociable patterns of brain activity that may increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying different developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior.

The importance of an exaggerated attention bottleneck for understanding psychopathy

The psychopath has long captured the imagination. A name such as Ted Bundy evokes a morbid curiosity. The crimes committed by Bundy are so cruel that it is hard to imagine how someone could do such things. In this review we discuss evidence that exaggeration in an attention bottleneck is one mechanism that makes it possible for psychopathic individuals to be adept at focusing on a single stimulus feature or goal but struggle to process multiple streams of information simultaneously. This exaggeration may partly explain the behavioral, affective, and social deficits that are apparent among psychopathic individuals. Further research on this attentional mechanism may promote a science that adequately captures the complexity of psychopathic behavior and offers new avenues for intervention.

Cognitive Empathy in Subtypes of Antisocial Individuals

Cognitive empathy allows individuals to recognize and infer how others think and feel in social situations and provides a foundation for the formation and maintenance of mutually constructive relationships. It may seem intuitive to assume that individuals who engage in antisocial behavior, who disregard the rights of others, might have problems with cognitive empathy. However, careful examination of the literature suggests that any dysfunction in cognitive empathy associated with antisociality varies by subtype of antisocial individual and is specific to subcomponents of cognitive empathy. In this review, we (1) briefly define subtypes of antisocial individuals ("psychopathic" vs. "antisocial-only"), (2) summarize specific components of cognitive empathy; (3) review existing literature examining cognitive empathy through questionnaires, behavioral tasks, and neuroimaging within different antisocial subtypes; and (4) discuss the limitations of the current research and potential future directions. Individuals in the psychopathic subtype fail to implicitly engage in cognitive empathy, and potentially lack insight into this issue reflected in no self-reported problems with cognitive empathy, but show an ability to engage in cognitive empathy when explicitly required. Individuals in the antisocial-only subtype appear able to engage in cognitive empathy, showing no differences on questionnaire or behavioral tasks that tap explicit cognitive empathy, but may display subtle difficulties accurately inferring (affective theory of mind) the emotions of others. We end the review by noting areas for future research, including the need to: (1) document the patterns of equifinality that exist across levels of analysis for these antisocial subtypes; (2) examine the temporality of empathy and antisociality development; (3) carefully consider and label subcomponents of cognitive empathy in research on antisocial behavior; and (4) investigate the intersection among environmental experiences, cognitive empathy, and antisocial behavior.

Electrophysiological evidence that psychopathic personality traits are associated with atypical response to salient distractors

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to assess the neural mechanisms underlying visual-spatial attention abnormalities associated with psychopathic personality traits. Sixty-nine undergraduates (56 women, 13 men) completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) and performed two cognitive tasks in which search displays containing a lateralized singleton encircled a fixation point that changed luminance from trial-to-trial. When searching for the singleton as a target, PPI-R scores were uncorrelated with ERP measures of its salience (Ppc), goal-directed selection (N2pc), and working memory evaluation (negative amplitude CDA). In contrast, when responding to the changes in luminance at fixation and ignoring the lateral singleton as a salient distractor, PPI-R Self-Centered Impulsivity factor scores were positively correlated with a potential indicator of distractor suppression (a sustained positive amplitude CDA). These findings provide support for a neurophysiological interpretation of the changes in visual-spatial attention associated with psychopathic personality traits: normal selection of target information accompanied by greater elimination of distractor information at a later visual working memory stage.

Response-locked component of error monitoring in psychopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of error-related negativity/positivity

Evidence suggests that psychopathic individuals display difficulties to adapt their behavior in accordance with the demands of the environment and show altered performance monitoring. Studies investigating the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error-positivity (Pe) as electrophysiological markers of error monitoring reported contradictory results for this population. To explain these discrepancies, we hypothesized that psychopathy dimensions influence electrophysiological outcomes. We predicted that individuals with impulsive-antisocial features would display abnormal ERN compared to individuals with interpersonal-affective features. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating ERN and Pe components were conducted. A factorial analysis was undertaken to investigate the role of psychopathy dimensions on ERN and Pe. Compared to controls, psychopathic individuals (n = 940) showed a reduced ERN and Pe amplitude. The factorial analysis indicates a dissociation regarding the construct of psychopathy. The models reported that psychopathic individuals related specifically to the interpersonal-affective dimension displayed normal ERN component and efficient error-monitoring, while psychopathic individuals with a marked impulsive-antisocial dimension display a decreased ERN component and altered performance monitoring.

More or less likely to offend? Young adults with a history of identified developmental language disorders

BACKGROUND

There is now substantial literature demonstrating that a disproportionate number of young people who come into contact with youth justice services evidence unidentified language difficulties. These young people, therefore, have received little or no professional input in this area. Conversely, there is a dearth of research pertaining to criminality outcomes among those individuals with identified developmental language disorders (DLD) who have received such interventions.

AIMS

To examine police-initiated contact and substance use outcomes of young adults with a history of identified DLD versus age-matched peers (AMP). Additionally, self-reported rule breaking behaviours and aggression are considered. We hypothesize that early identification/intervention reduces engagement with risky behaviour such as substance and alcohol use as well as offending-related behaviours.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Adversarial police-initiated contacts were examined in 84 young adults with a history of DLD and 88 AMP. Rule-breaking and aggression were evaluated using the Achenbach Adult Self-Report for ages 18-59 years.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Adults with a history of DLD who received targeted intervention during their school years reported less contact with their local police service compared with AMPs at age 24. Comparable proportions of both groups reported current alcohol consumption, but group differences were found relating to alcohol use. No group differences in rule-breaking behaviours were found, but the DLD group was found to have a statistically significant higher raw score on the aggressive behaviour scale.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

There is a need for early identification of children with DLD. Early intervention aimed at ameliorating such difficulties could possibly have distal outcomes in relation to offending.

Antisocial Personality Disorder in Older Adults: A Critical Review

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has enormous negative impacts on the affected individuals, their loved ones, and society. This burden is intensified by the social and functional changes related to age. The lower prevalence of ASPD in older adults compared to younger adults is well-documented. This discrepancy, often attributed solely to antisocial "burnout," contributes to the lack of attention given to this disorder in older adults and may signify difficulty measuring ASPD in this population. These measurement issues likely stem from problems with the validity of the diagnostic criteria for older adults which may not effectively capture changes that occur with age. This review focuses on the current literature surrounding the validity of ASPD criteria with older adults and relevant concepts, including the connection between criminality and ASPD. Issues with screening tools and the measurement of ASPD caused by problems with the criteria are also discussed. Finally, recommendations for improvement, including use of dimensional models of personality disorders, a potential geriatric subclassification of criteria, and modification of the existing criteria are presented with clinical implications and suggestions for future research.

Theta phase coherence in affective picture processing reveals dysfunctional sensory integration in psychopathic offenders

Psychopathic offenders are described as emotionally cold, displaying deficits in affective responding. However, research demonstrates that many of the psychopathy-related deficits are moderated by attention, such that under conditions of high attentional and perceptual load psychopathic offenders display deficits in affective responses, but do not in conditions of low load. To date, most studies use measures of defensive reflex (i.e., startle) and conditioning manipulations to examine the impact of load on psychopathy-related processing, but have not examined more direct measures of attention processing. In a sample of adult male offenders, the present study examined time-frequency EEG phase coherence in response to a picture-viewing paradigm that manipulated picture familiarity to assess neural changes in processing based on perceptual demands. Results indicated psychopathy-related differences in the theta response, an index of readiness to perceive and integrate sensory information. These data provide further evidence that psychopathic offenders have disrupted integration of sensory information.

Modulatory effects of psychopathy on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in male offenders with Antisocial Personality Disorder

Neuropsychological deficits in executive functions (EF) have been linked to antisocial behavior and considered to be cardinal to the onset and persistence of severe antisocial and aggressive behavior. However, when psychopathy is present, prior evidence suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is unaffected leading to intact EF. Ninety-one male offenders with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and 24 controls completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). ASPD individuals were grouped in three categories according to Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores (low, medium and high). We hypothesized that ASPD offenders with high PCL-R scores will not differ from healthy controls in EF and will show better EF performance in comparison with subjects with low PCL-R scores. Results showed that ASPD offenders with low PCL-R scores committed more perseverative errors and responses than controls and offenders with high PCL-R scores, which did not differ from healthy controls. Moreover, scores on Factor 1 and the interpersonal facet of the PCL-R were predictors of better WCST performance. Our results suggest a modulatory role of psychopathy in the cognitive performance of ASPD offenders, and provide further evidence supporting that offenders with ASPD and psychopathy are characterized by a cognitive profile different from those with ASPD without psychopathy.

Altering the Cognitive-Affective Dysfunctions of Psychopathic and Externalizing Offender Subtypes with Cognitive Remediation

Cognitive remediation is a treatment approach with the potential to translate basic science into more specific, mechanism-based interventions by targeting particular cognitive skills. The present study translated understanding of two well-defined cognitive-emotion dysfunctions into novel deficit-matched interventions and evaluated whether cognitive remediation would demonstrate specific and generalizable change. Two antisocial-subtypes, individuals with psychopathy and externalizing traits, are characterized by cognitive-affective problems that predispose them to engage in significant substance abuse and criminal behavior, culminating in incarceration. Whereas individuals with psychopathy fail to consider important contextual information, individuals with externalizing traits lack the capacity to regulate affective reactions. Training designed to remedy these subtype-specific deficits led to improvement on both trained and non-trained tasks. Such findings offer promise for changing neural and behavioral patterns, even for what many consider to be the most recalcitrant treatment population, and presage a new era of translating cognitive-affective science into increasingly specific and effective interventions.