Implication of Neural Deficits in Antisocial Personality Disorders

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Implication of Neural Deficits in Antisocial
Personality Disorders

• Alex Barbosa

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality
  disorder (APD) are both diagnosed by the DSM-IV.
• CD younger than 18yrs
• CD/APD basis of behavior
• 6 months of conduct disturbance
• Pervasive pattern of disregard for others
• Violation of the rights of others

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Antisocial Personality DisorderCont

• Psychopathy classifications are an extension of
  CD and APD.
• High scores on clinical scales
• Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD)
• Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R)
• Antisocial behavior impulsive
  aggression/offensive
• Emotion dysfunction emotional shallowness and
  lack of guilt

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Background

• Research in the antisocial personality disorders
  have focused on impairments in executive
  functioning and emotion processing.
• This suggests the prefrontal cortex and the
  amygdala might be implicated in the antisocial
  personality disorders.

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• Neurocognitive Explanations of the Antisocial
  Personality Disorders
• Blair and Frith
• 2000

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Three theories of neurcognitive impairments in
the APDs

• Impairment in executive functioning
• E.g. planning, inhibition
• Prefrontal cortex
• Impairment in executive emotion processing
• E.g. associated w/learned or innate
• Orbital-Frontal cortex
• Impairment in emotion processing
• E.g. fear, empathy
• Amygdala

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Violent Inhibition Mechanism (VIM)

• VIM model suggests that if a submissive cue is
  displayed, an aggressor will terminate its
  attack.
• Failure to develop this VIM suggests development
  of psychopathic behavior.
• Individual with VIM dysfunction does not show
  arousal to distress cues.

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Conclusions

• Development of APDs is not associated with
  impairments in executive functioning.
• Development of APDs may be implicated as a result
  of impairments of executive emotion processing
• Development of APDs is associated with an
  impairment in emotional processing possibly
  involving dysfunction in the amygdala.

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Future Studies

• Is a neuro dysfunction the cause of the
  antisocial personality disorders?
• Is the amygdala this neuro dysfunction?