Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T12:59:50.813Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of antisocial behaviour disorder, psychopathy and violent crime among military conscripts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Cengiz Basoglu ,
Umit Semiz ,
Ozgur Oner ,
Huseyin Gunay ,
Servet Ebrinc ,
Mesut Cetin ,
Onur Sildiroglu ,
Ayhan Algul ,
Alpay Ates  and
Guner Sonmez
Cengiz Basoglu*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Umit Semiz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Ozgur Oner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Diskapi State Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
Huseyin Gunay
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Etimesgut Veteran Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
Servet Ebrinc
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Mesut Cetin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Onur Sildiroglu
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Ayhan Algul
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Alpay Ates
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Guner Sonmez
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
*
Cengiz Basoglu, GATA Haydarpasa Egt. Hst., Psikiyatri Servisi Kadikoy, Istanbul 34710, Turkey. Tel: +90 216 542 20 20; Fax: +90 216 550 34 73; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Prefrontal and/or temporo-limbic abnormalities associated with antisocial personality disorder (APD), high psychopathy scores and violent behaviours can readily be evaluated by neuroimaging methods.

Objectives:

In this study, we compared the brain metabolites in adult male military conscripts with APD, high psychopathy scores and serious violent crimes (n = 15) with age- and educational-level-matched healthy controls (n = 15) by means of magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Methods:

All cases were diagnosed by means of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-IV APD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III-R Axis II Disorders (SCID-II) semistructured questionnaire in Turkish. The psychopathy scores were evaluated by means of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised translated into Turkish (PCL-R). PCL-R is a 20-item, reliable and valid instrument for assessment of psychopathy, both in categorical and dimensional natures. All patients had a total score of 29 (of possible 40) or higher from PCL-R, indicating a high degree of psychopathy.

Results:

Our results showed no significant differences in ratio of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr) and choline-related compounds in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala–hippocampus regions of cases compared with controls. ACC NAA/Cr was significantly negatively correlated with both the PCL-R total score and the PCL-R factor I score (interpersonal/affective problems) among the cases.

Conclusion:

As ACC plays an important role in decision-making and emotional information processing, we postulate that the lower NAA/Cr ratio, suggesting impaired neural integrity, may increase the severity of interpersonal/affective problems of the psychopathy factor in male subjects exhibiting APD, high psychopathy overall scores and violent crimes.

Keywords

antisocial behaviouranterior cingulate cortexamygdala–hippocampusmagnetic resonance spectroscopyprefrontal cortex
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2008 , pp. 72 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Blackwell Munksgaard

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hare, RD. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems, 1991. Google Scholar
Raine, A, Buchsbaum, MS, Stanley, J, Lottenberg, S, Abel, L, Stoddard, J. Selective reductions in prefrontal glucose metabolism in murderers. Biol Psychiatry 1994;36:365–373. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barkataki, I, Kumari, V, Das, M, Taylor, P, Sharma, T. Volumetric structural brain abnormalities in men with schizophrenia or antisocial personality disorder. Behav Brain Res 2006;169:239–247. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laakso, MP, Vaurio, O, Savolainen, Let al. A volmetric MRI study of the hippocampus in type 1 and type 2 alcoholism. Behav Brain Res 2000;109:177–186. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raine, A, Lencz, T, Bihrle, S, LaCasse, L, Colletti, P. Reduced prefrontal gray matter volume and reduced autonomic activity in antisocial personality disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000;57:119–127. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amen, DG, Stubblefield, M, Carmicheal, B, Thisted, R. Brain SPECT findings and aggressiveness. Ann Clin Psychiatry 1996;8:129–137. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiehl, KA, Smith, A, Mendrek, A, Forster, B, Hare, RD, Liddle, P. Temporal lobe abnormalities in semantic processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Psychiatry Res 2004;130:297–312. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siever, LJ, Buchsbaum, MS, New, ASet al. d, l-fenfluramine response in impulsive personality disorder assessed with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Neuropsychopharmacology 1999;20:413–423. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pridmore, S, Chambers, A, McArthur, M. Neuroimaging in psychopathy. Aus NZ J Psychiatry 2005;39:856–865. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volkow, ND, Tancredi, LR, Grant, Cet al. Brain glucose metabolism in violent psychiatric patients: a preliminary study. Psychiatry Res 1995;61:243–253. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumari, V, Aasen, I, Taylor, Pet al. Neural dysfunction and violence in schizophrenia: a fMRI investigation. Schizophr Res 2006;84:144–164. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muller, JL, Sommer, M, Wagner, Vet al. Abnormalities in emotion processing within cortical and subcortical regions in criminal psychopaths: evidence from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using pictures with emotional content. Biol Psychiatry 2003;54:152–162. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davidson, RJ, Putnam, KM, Larson, CL. Dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion regulation: a possible prelude to violence. Science 2000;289:591–594. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiehl, KA, Smith, AM, Hare, RD, Mendrek, A, Forster, BB, Brink, J, Liddle, PF. Limbic abnormalities in affective processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Biol Psychiatry 2001;50:667–684. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damasio, AR, Tranel, D, Damasio, H. Individuals with psychopathic behavior caused by frontal damage fail to respond autonomically to social stimuli. Behav Brain Res 1990;41:81–94. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, M. What neuroimaging tells us about psychopathic disorders? Hosp Med 2002;63:337–340. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vance, AL, Velakoulis, D, Maruff, P, Wood, SJ, Desmond, P, Pantelis, C. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and schizophrenia: what have we learnt? Aus NZ J Psychiatry 2000;34:14–25. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, PW, Sailasuta, N, Chandler, RA, Ketter, TA. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic measurement of cerebral gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations in patients with bipolar disorders. Acta Neuropsychiatr 2006;18:120–126. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Critchley, HD, Simmons, A, Daly, EMet al. Prefrontal and medial temporal correlates of repetitive behavior to self and others. Biol Psychiatry 2000;47:928–934. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laakso, MP, Vaurio, O, Koivisto, Eet al. Psychopathy and the posterior hippocampus. Behav Brain Res 2001;118:187–193. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Talairach, J, Tournoux, P. Co-planar stereotaxic atlas of the human brain. 3D proportional system. An approach to cerebral imaging. New York, NY: Georg Thieme Verlag, 1988. Google Scholar
Raine, A. Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: a review. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2002;30:311–326. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, G, Luu, P, Posner, MI. Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 2000;4:215–222. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tow, PM, Whitty, CW. Personality changes after operations on the cingulate gyrus in man. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1953;16:186–193. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennard, MA. Effect of bilateral ablation of cingulate area on behaviour of cats. J Neurophysiol 1954;14:159–169. Google Scholar
Bertolino, A, Weinberger, DR. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in schizophrenia. Eur J Radiol 1999;30:132–141. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soderstrom, H, Hultin, L, Tullberg, M, Wikkelso, M, Ekholm, S, Forsman, A. Reduced frontotemporal perfusion in psychopathic personality. Psychiatry Res 2002;114:81–94. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair, RJ. Neurobiological basis of psychopathy. Br J Psychiatry 2003;182:5–7. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lagopoulos, J. Functional MRI: an overview [Brain Bytes]. Acta Neuropsychiatr 2007;19:64–65. CrossRefGoogle Scholar