TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining the effect of psychopathic traits on gray matter volume in a community substance abuse sample
AU - Cope, Lora M.
AU - Shane, Matthew S.
AU - Segall, Judith M.
AU - Nyalakanti, Prashanth K.
AU - Stevens, Michael C.
AU - Pearlson, Godfrey D.
AU - Calhoun, Vince D.
AU - Kiehl, Kent A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by grants R01 MH070539-01 (PI: Kiehl) and R21 MH086880-01 (PI: Shane) from the National Institute of Mental Health , and R01 EB000840 (PI: Calhoun) from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering . The authors wish to thank Drs. B. Fink and J. Selig for their technical assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.
PY - 2012/11/30
Y1 - 2012/11/30
N2 - Psychopathy is believed to be associated with brain abnormalities in both paralimbic (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, insula, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate) and limbic (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate) regions. Recent structural imaging studies in both community and prison samples are beginning to support this view. Sixty-six participants, recruited from community corrections centers, were administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry was used to test the hypothesis that psychopathic traits would be associated with gray matter reductions in limbic and paralimbic regions. Effects of lifetime drug and alcohol use on gray matter volume were covaried. Psychopathic traits were negatively associated with gray matter volumes in right insula and right hippocampus. Additionally, psychopathic traits were positively associated with gray matter volumes in bilateral orbital frontal cortex and right anterior cingulate. Exploratory regression analyses indicated that gray matter volumes within right hippocampus and left orbital frontal cortex combined to explain 21.8% of the variance in psychopathy scores. These results support the notion that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormal limbic and paralimbic gray matter volume. Furthermore, gray matter increases in areas shown to be functionally impaired suggest that the structure-function relationship may be more nuanced than previously thought.
AB - Psychopathy is believed to be associated with brain abnormalities in both paralimbic (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, insula, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate) and limbic (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate) regions. Recent structural imaging studies in both community and prison samples are beginning to support this view. Sixty-six participants, recruited from community corrections centers, were administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry was used to test the hypothesis that psychopathic traits would be associated with gray matter reductions in limbic and paralimbic regions. Effects of lifetime drug and alcohol use on gray matter volume were covaried. Psychopathic traits were negatively associated with gray matter volumes in right insula and right hippocampus. Additionally, psychopathic traits were positively associated with gray matter volumes in bilateral orbital frontal cortex and right anterior cingulate. Exploratory regression analyses indicated that gray matter volumes within right hippocampus and left orbital frontal cortex combined to explain 21.8% of the variance in psychopathy scores. These results support the notion that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormal limbic and paralimbic gray matter volume. Furthermore, gray matter increases in areas shown to be functionally impaired suggest that the structure-function relationship may be more nuanced than previously thought.
KW - Limbic structures
KW - Paralimbic cortex
KW - Structural MRI
KW - Substance use
KW - Voxel-based morphometry (VBM)
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.10.004
DO - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.10.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 23217577
AN - SCOPUS:84872382496
SN - 0925-4927
VL - 204
SP - 91
EP - 100
JO - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
JF - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
IS - 2-3
ER -