Reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy in explicit but not implicit learning conditions

Abstract

IntroductionOur ability to learn associations between events with rewarding or punishing outcomes plays an important role in guiding our behaviour.1 Of equal importance is our capacity to successfully alter established associations to maximize performance when the environment requires us to change our behaviour. When an event that previously led to reward (event A) currently leads to punishment and when a previously punished event (event B) now yields a reward, the optimal behaviour would be to reverse the initial response tendencies by starting to respond to event B instead of event A. This principle is a driving force behind a form of behavioural adaptation known as response reversal. Response reversal can be defined as a change of behaviour following a reversal of the previously established relationships between events and their reinforcing value.2 Response reversal contributes to flexibility in behaviour, both under social and nonsocial circumstances .3 The amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been shown to play a crucial role in response reversal. 3,4The amygdala has been linked to the establishment of stimulus-outcome associations, 5 whereas the OFC has been Background: Psychopathy is a severe personality disorder that has been linked to impaired behavioural adaptation during reinforcement learning. Recent electrophysiological studies have suggested that psychopathy is related to impairments in intentionally using information relevant for adapting behaviour, whereas these impairments remain absent for behaviour relying on automatic use of information. We sought to investigate whether previously found impairments in response reversal in individuals with psychopathy also follow this dichotomy. We expected response reversal to be intact when the automatic use of information was facilitated. In contrast, we expected impaired response reversal when intentional use of information was required. Methods: We included offenders with psychopathy and matched healthy controls in 2 experiments with a probabilistic cued go/no-go reaction time task. The task implicated the learning and reversal of 2 predictive contingencies. In experiment 1, participants were not informed about the inclusion of a learning component, thus making cue-dependent learning automatic/ incidental. In experiment 2, the instructions required participants to actively monitor and learn predictive relationships, giving learning a controlled/intentional nature. Results: While there were no significant group differences in acquisition learning in either experiment, the results revealed impaired response reversal in offenders with psychopathy when controlled learning was facilitated. Interestingly, this impairment was absent when automatic learning was predominant. Limitations: Possible limitations are the use of a nonforensic control group and of self-report measures for drug use. Conclusion: Response reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy are modulated by the context provided by the instructions, according to the distinction between ...

Considering new insights into antisociality and psychopathy

“…without being aff ected by contextual factors, such as task parameters. 10 The intact behavioural performance combined with aberrant brain activation reported, however, might refl ect the diff ering developmental pathways for antisocial personality disorder with and without psychopathy. The distinction between these two subgroups resembles that between troubled youths with high levels of callous-unemotional traits and those predominantly with con duct disorder, pinpointing the presence of develop mental components.…”

No clear evidence for a positive association between the interpersonal-affective aspects of psychopathy and executive functioning

“…While some researchers have linked psychopathy to specific cognitive dysfunctions, such as attentional processing (e.g., Baskin-Sommers et al, 2012) and reversal learning (e.g., Budhani et al, 2006;Brazil et al, 2013), in recent years there has been a growing interest in a broader range of cognitive functions, often denoted with the umbrella-term 'executive functioning' (EF) (see De Brito & Hodgins, 2009, for an overview).…”

Punishment and psychopathy: a case-control functional MRI investigation of reinforcement learning in violent antisocial personality disordered men

“…13 In behavioural studies off enders with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have shown notable impairment in using reinforcement information when choosing between punished and rewarded objects in passive avoidance, 14 extinction, 15 and reversal learning tasks. 11,16,17 The failure to use punishment information to signal inappropriate behaviour is thought to be the primary defi cit in psychopathy, and emerges early in childhood. 18 Reversal learning tasks examine the ability to adjust behaviour to changes in reinforcement contingency.…”