Neural responses to emotional and neutral facial expressions in chronically violent men

Abstract

Background: Abnormal neural responses to others' emotions, particularly cues of threat and distress, have been implicated in the development of chronic violence. We examined neural responses to several emotional cues within a prospectively identified group of chronically violent men. We also explored the association between neural responses to social emotions and psychopathic features. Methods:We compared neural responses to happy, sad, angry, fearful and neutral faces between chronically violent (n = 22) and nonviolent (n = 20) men using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were prospectively identified from a longitudinal study based on information collected from age 7 to 27 years. We assessed psychopathic features using a self-report measure administered in adulthood. Results: The chronically violent men exhibited significantly reduced neural responses in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex to all faces, regardless of the emotional content, compared with nonviolent men. We also observed a hyperactive amygdala response to neutral faces in chronically violent men, but only within the context of viewing happy faces. Moreover, they exhibited a greater dorsomedial prefrontal cortex response to mildly fearful faces than nonviolent men. These abnormalities were not associated with psychopathic features in chronically violent men. Limitations: It remains unclear whether the observed neural abnormalities preceded or are a consequence of persistent violence, and these results may not generalize to chronically violent women. Conclusion: Chronically violent men exhibit a reduced neural response to facial cues regardless of emotional content. It appears that chronically violent men may view emotionally ambiguous facial cues as potentially threatening and implicitly reinterpret subtle cues of fear in others so they no longer elicit a negative response.

Understanding youth antisocial behavior using neuroscience through a developmental psychopathology lens: Review, integration, and directions for research

“…These results emphasize that even neutral faces may be differentially processed in youth high on AB possibly because neutral faces are relatively novel (we see them less often than emotional faces), have been shown to be perceived as non-neutral (representing emotion) in youth with psychopathology and AB (Dadds et al, 2006; Rich et al, 2006), and have been shown to produce different levels of amygdala reactivity at different ages across childhood and adolescence (Somerville, Fani, & McClure-Tone, 2011). Though the effect of neutral faces is at odds with theory in the field (Blair, 2007a; van Honk & Schutter, 2007), it is consistent with a recent study finding greater amygdala reactivity to neutral faces in a group of chronically violent adult men (Pardini & Phillips, 2010). However, it is also difficult to interpret the different group responses to neutral faces in the Passamonti study because they were compared to a relatively non-informative baseline (a fixation cross) that differed in a number of ways from the faces.…”

Lower Amygdala Volume in Men is Associated with Childhood Aggression, Early Psychopathic Traits, and Future Violence

“…Items from the Self-Report of Delinquency (SRD)(24) were used to assess past-year serious violence (i.e., rape, robbery, gang fighting, attacking with a weapon or to seriously hurt/kill) across assessments spanning ages 10–19 and again at age 26, just prior to the imaging assessment. At age 26, a 15-item Violence History Questionnaire (VHQ) (25) collected more detailed information about serious violence in the past year (e.g., kidnapping). Criminal charges for violence (e.g., homicide, robbery) were collected using juvenile, Pennsylvania state, and federal records.…”

The neurobiology of psychopathic traits in youths

“…Findings of reduced amygdala responses to emotional provocation in adults with psychopathic traits are similar to reduced amygdala responses to fearful expressions found in youths with psychopathic traits. But studies that specifically examined the response to fearful expressions in adults with psychopathic traits have typically not shown reduced amygdala responses 233–235 (but see REF. 236).…”