Reward Processing, Functional Connectivity, Psychopathy, and Research Domain Criteria

Abstract

Psychopathy is a disorder characterized by pronounced emotional deficits (including reduced guilt and empathy) and an increased risk for displaying antisocial behavior. The disorder was initially described by Cleckley and subsequently was characterized more formally via a behavioral checklist and interview developed by Hare ( 1 Hare R.D. A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. Pers Individ Dif. 1980; 1: 111-119 Crossref Scopus (656) Google Scholar ). Hare’s characterization was important because it provided a description of a behavioral presentation associated with specific causal factors. In contrast, a wide variety of causal factors are associated with the more general antisocial behavior descriptions provided by DSM or ICD. Functional Connectivity Bias in the Prefrontal Cortex of PsychopathsBiological PsychiatryVol. 78Issue 9PreviewPsychopathy is characterized by a distinctive interpersonal style that combines callous-unemotional traits with inflexible and antisocial behavior. Traditional emotion-based perspectives link emotional impairment mostly to alterations in amygdala-ventromedial frontal circuits. However, these models alone cannot explain why individuals with psychopathy can regularly benefit from emotional information when placed on their focus of attention and why they are more resistant to interference from nonaffective contextual cues. Full-Text PDF Incentive Processing in Persistent Disruptive Behavior and Psychopathic Traits: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study in AdolescentsBiological PsychiatryVol. 78Issue 9PreviewChildren with early-onset disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), especially those with callous-unemotional traits, are at risk of developing persistent and severe adult antisocial behavior. One possible underlying mechanism for persistence is deficient reward and loss sensitivity, i.e., deficient incentive processing. However, little is known about the relation between deficient incentive processing and persistence of antisocial behavior into adulthood or its relation with callous-unemotional and other psychopathic traits. Full-Text PDF