Violent offending predicts P300 amplitude

Abstract

Prior work has consistently revealed a relationship between antisocial behavior and reduced P300 amplitude. Fewer studies have directly evaluated behavioral indices of aggression and P300, and those that have generally do not account for potential mediating variables such as age, intelligence, and behavioral task performance. The current study assessed the relationship between the total number of convicted violent and non-violent offenses and P300 in a sample of inmates from a medium security state prison. Violent offenses evidenced a robust negative relationship with P300 amplitude, whereas non-violent offenses did not. Additional analyses evaluated age, intelligence, and behavioral task performance as potential mediating variables. Only reaction time significantly predicted P300 amplitude, and mediational analyses showed that this relationship did not account for the violentoffense/P300 relationship. Findings are discussed in terms of personality correlates and neurobiological process related to aggression.There is long-standing interest in the notion that antisocial behavior, and aggression in particular, involves neurobiologically-based deficits in information processing. Neuropsychological research has revealed that antisocial behavior is associated with impaired executive function (c.f. Morgan & Lilienfeld, 2000), and neuroimaging studies have consistently identified frontal lobe abnormalities among violent offenders (Goyer, Andreason, Semple, & Clayton, 1994;Raine, Buchsbaum, & LaCasse, 1997;Raine, Lencz, Bihrle, LaCasse, Colletti, 2000; Volkow, Tancredi, Lawrence, Grant, Gillespie, & Hampton, 1995). Furthermore, research using event-related brain potentials has indicated that antisocial behavior is associated with reduced P300 responses to task-relevant stimuli in target detection tasks (e.g., Iacono, Malone, & McGue, 2003). These deficits may reflect inefficient neural processing of salient environmental stimuli (Donchin & Coles, 1988), which could potentially contribute to risk for antisocial deviance.Notably, antisocial behavior encompasses both violent and nonviolent transgressions. One unresolved issue is whether P300 amplitude is associated with both violent and non-violent forms of antisocial behavior, or more predominantly with aggressive forms of acting out. Some research has examined P300 response in aggressive individuals specifically (e.g., Barratt, Stanford, Kent, & Felthous, 1997); this work has revealed that reduced P300 amplitude is selectively related to impulsive, but not instrumental, aggression. However, this work has not compared associations for aggressive versus non-aggressive offending behavior. Thus, the aim of the present study was to replicate and extend prior research on antisocial behavior and brain response by examining relations between violent and non-violent offenses and P300 amplitude in a sample of adult male inmates. Our prediction was that reduced P300 response would be Correspondence may be addressed either to Edward M. Bernat (email: ebernat@umn.edu) or Chri...

Neurophysiological correlates of delinquent behaviour in adult subjects with ADHD

“…Also the P300 Go component was reduced in the delinquent and non-delinquent groups with ADHD compared to controls, whereby the difference was statistically significant only between delinquents and controls. This result confirms previous research showing that the P300 Go was reduced in ADHD (Prox et al, 2007) as well as in delinquency (Gao and Raine, 2009;Bernat et al, 2007). Based on the assumption that the P300 represents the allocation of neural resources, attention, and cognitive processing capability (Polich, 2007), ADHD symptomatology seems to be related to deficits in these functions.…”

“…Specifically, violent offenders showed reduced P300 compared to non-violent offenders (e.g. Bernat et al, 2007). Also, when dysinhibited antisocial individuals were compared to healthy controls, reduced P300 amplitudes were observed (Gao and Raine, 2009;Iacono et al, 2003).…”

Outcome expectancy and not accuracy determines posterror slowing: ERP support

“…The amplitude of the P3 component was quantified at FCz, where the amplitude of this component was maximal (see Figure 3 potential maps), and measured as the difference between the first maximum positive deflection in a time window 250-450 msec relative to buttonpress onset and the preceding negative peak in the time window 200-350 msec. In order to filter out the FRN, we filtered high frequencies, applying a 3-Hz low-pass filter to discard the possibility that the differences in the P3 might be primarily tied to variations in the FRN component (see also Bernat, Hall, Steffen, & Patrick, 2007).…”

Peculiarities of Brain Information Processing in Persons with Different Serotonin Transporter Gene Variants

“…O. V. Sysoeva Brain processes presumably underlying aggression were investigated including the following components of averaged brain activity evoked by extrinsic stimulus (evoked potential, EP): mismatch negativity (MMN) and a positive component with a latency about 300 msec (P300). It was found that criminals convicted for delinquency associated with violations appeared to exhibit decreased amplitude of P300 in comparison with criminals, whose crime was not associated with act of violence (e.g., fraud) [3]. Information processing in aggressive criminals was assumed to break off earlier, and these people are going to actions before completing analysis of situation.…”

“…It was found that criminals convicted for delinquency associated with violations appeared to exhibit decreased amplitude of P300 in comparison with criminals, whose crime was not associated with act of violence (e.g., fraud) [3]. Information processing in aggressive criminals was assumed to break off earlier, and these people are going to actions before completing analysis of situation.…”