Andrea L. Glenn

Neural Correlates of Social Cooperation and Non-Cooperation as a Function of Psychopathy

BACKGROUND Psychopathy is a disorder involving a failure to experience many emotions that are necessary for appropriate social behavior. In this study, we probed the behavioral, emotional, and neural correlates of psychopathic traits within the context of a dyadic social interaction. METHODS Thirty subjects were imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging while playing an iterated Prisoners Dilemma game with human confederates who were outside the scanner. Subjects also completed two self-report psychopathy questionnaires. RESULTS Subjects scoring higher on psychopathy, particularly males, defected more often and were less likely to continue cooperating after establishing mutual cooperation with a partner. Further, they experienced more outcomes in which their cooperation was not reciprocated (cooperate-defect outcome). After such outcomes, subjects scoring high in psychopathy showed less amygdala activation, suggesting weaker aversive conditioning to those outcomes. Compared with low-psychopathy subjects, subjects higher in psychopathy also showed weaker activation within orbitofrontal cortex when choosing to cooperate and showed weaker activation within dorsolateral prefrontal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex when choosing to defect. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that whereas subjects scoring low on psychopathy have emotional biases toward cooperation that can only be overcome with effortful cognitive control, subjects scoring high on psychopathy have an opposing bias toward defection that likewise can only be overcome with cognitive effort.

The Neural Correlates of Moral Decision-Making in Psychopathy

Neuroimaging studies have used classic moral dilemmas to identify the neural circuitry underlying moral decision-making in healthy individuals, but it is unknown how this circuit functions in immoral, psychopathic individuals. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we find that more psychopathic individuals showed reduced activity in the amygdala during emotional moral decision-making, with particularly conning and manipulative individuals showing reduced activity in the entire moral neural circuit. These results provide initial evidence that psychopaths exhibit deficits in brain regions essential to moral judgment in normal individuals. Psychopathy is a personality disorder involving severe disruption in moral behavior accompanied by pronounced deficits in emotion. Emotion is argued to be a critical component of moral behavior 1 . Highly emotional moral dilemmas have been found to evoke activity in the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and angular gyrus 1,2 . It has been hypothesized that persistent immoral behavior may result from deficiencies in some components of the moral neural circuit 3 . We implemented a twice-replicated fMRI task involving classic moral dilemmas 1,2 to examine the relationship between psychopathy and brain activity. We also examined whether four different factors of psychopathy (Fig. 1, middle) were differentially related to neural activation during moral decision-making.

The neural correlates of the affective response to unreciprocated cooperation

Humans excel at reciprocal altruism in which two individuals exchange altruistic acts to their mutual advantage. The evolutionary stability of this system depends on recognition of and discrimination against non-reciprocators, and the human mind is apparently specialized for detecting non-reciprocators. Here we investigate the neural response to non-reciprocation of cooperation by imaging human subjects with fMRI as they play an iterated Prisoners dilemma game with two assumed human partners. Unreciprocated cooperation was associated with greater activity in bilateral anterior insula, left hippocampus and left lingual gyrus, compared with reciprocated cooperation. These areas were also more responsive to unreciprocated cooperation than to unsuccessful risk taking in a non-social context. Finally, functional connectivity between anterior insula and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in response to unreciprocated cooperation predicted subsequent defection. The anterior insula is involved in awareness of visceral, autonomic feedback from the body and, in concert with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, may be responsible for negative feeling states that bias subsequent social decision making against cooperation with a non-reciprocating partner.

Increased Volume of the Striatum in Psychopathic Individuals

BACKGROUND The corpus striatum, comprised of the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus, plays an important role in reward processing and may be involved in the pathophysiology of antisocial behavior. Few studies have explored whether differences are present in the striatum of antisocial individuals. Here, we examine the structure of the striatum in relation to psychopathy. METHODS Using a case-control design, we examined the volume of the striatum in psychopathic individuals compared with control subjects matched for age, sex, ethnicity, and substance dependence. Twenty-two psychopathic individuals assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and 22 comparison subjects underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Volumes of the left and right lenticular nucleus (putamen and globus pallidus), caudate head, and caudate body were assessed and the psychopathic and control groups were compared. RESULTS Psychopathic individuals showed a 9.6% increase in striatum volumes. Analyses of subfactors of psychopathy revealed that caudate body volumes were primarily associated with the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy, while caudate head volumes were primarily associated with the impulsive, stimulation-seeking features. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide new evidence for differences in the striatum of psychopathic individuals. This structural difference may partially underlie the reward-seeking and decision-making deficits associated with psychopathy.

Early temperamental and psychophysiological precursors of adult psychopathic personality

Emerging research on psychopathy in children and adolescents raises the question of whether indicators, such as temperament or psychophysiology, exist very early in life in those with a psychopathic-like personality in adulthood. This study tests the hypothesis that individuals who are more psychopathic in adulthood would be less fearful and inhibited and more stimulation seeking/sociable at age 3 and that they would also show reduced age 3 skin-conductance (SC) responsivity. In a community sample of 335 3-year-olds, behavioral measures of temperament were taken and electrodermal activity was recorded in response to both orienting and aversive tones. R. D. Hares (1985) Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP-II) was administered at follow-up at age 28. Individuals scoring higher on the measure were significantly less fearful and inhibited, were more sociable, and displayed longer SC half-recovery times to aversive stimuli compared with controls at age 3. Contrary to predictions, they also showed increased autonomic arousal and SC orienting. Findings appear to be the first to suggest that a prospective link may exist between temperament and psychophysiology in very young children and psychopathic personality in adulthood.

Are All Types of Morality Compromised in Psychopathy

A long-standing puzzle for moral philosophers and psychologists alike is the concept of psychopathy, a personality disorder marked by tendencies to defy moral norms despite cognitive knowledge about right and wrong. Previously, discussions of the moral deficits of psychopathy have focused on willingness to harm and cheat others as well as reasoning about rule-based transgressions. Yet recent research in moral psychology has begun to more clearly define the domains of morality, encompassing issues of harm, fairness, loyalty, authority, and spiritual purity. Clinical descriptions and theories of psychopathy suggest that deficits may exist primarily in the areas of harm and fairness, although quantitative evidence is scarce. Within a broad sample of participants, we found that scores on a measure of psychopathy predicted sharply lower scores on the harm and fairness subscales of a measure of moral concern, but showed no relationship with authority, and very small relationships with in group and purity. On a measure of willingness to violate moral standards for money, psychopathy scores predicted greater willingness to violate moral concerns of any type. Results are further explored via potential mediators and analyses of the two factors of psychopathy.

Neurocriminology: Implications for the Punishment, Prediction and Prevention of Criminal Behaviour

Criminal behaviour and violence are increasingly viewed as worldwide public health problems. A growing body of knowledge shows that criminal behaviour has a neurobiological basis, and this has intensified judicial interest in the potential application of neuroscience to criminal law. It also gives rise to important questions. What are the implications of such application for predicting future criminal behaviour and protecting society? Can it be used to prevent violence? And what are the implications for the way offenders are punished?

Increased testosterone to cortisol ratio in psychopathy

Only a few studies have examined hormones in psychopathy, and results have been mixed. It has been suggested that because hormone systems are highly interconnected, it may be important to examine multiple systems simultaneously to gain a clearer picture of how hormones work together to predispose for a certain construct. In the present study, we attempt to clarify the role of the hormones cortisol and testosterone in psychopathy by examining both hormones in a community sample of 178 adults demonstrating a wide range of psychopathy scores. Results showed that psychopathy scores were associated with an increased ratio of testosterone (baseline) to cortisol responsivity to a stressor. Psychopathy was not associated with either of these measures independently or with baseline cortisol levels. These findings suggest that these highly interconnected hormone systems may work in concert to predispose to psychopathy.

Increased DLPFC activity during moral decision- making in psychopathy

1 Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 2 Departments of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 3 Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA 4 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA 5 Departments of Psychology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Biological Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

The neurobiology of psychopathy.

Numerous studies have tackled the complex challenge of understanding the neural substrates of psychopathy, revealing that brain abnormalities exist on several levels and in several structures. As we discover more about complex neural networks, it becomes increasingly difficult to clarify how these systems interact with each other to produce the distinct pattern of behavioral and personality characteristics observed in psychopathy. The authors review the recent research on the neurobiology of psychopathy, beginning with molecular neuroscience work and progressing to the level of brain structures and their connectivity. Potential factors that may affect the development of brain impairments, as well as how some systems may be targeted for potential treatment, are discussed.