Aberrant resting-state functional connectivity in incarcerated women with elevated psychopathic traits

Abstract

Previous work in incarcerated men suggests that individuals scoring high on psychopathy exhibit aberrant resting-state paralimbic functional network connectivity (FNC). However, it is unclear whether similar results extend to women scoring high on psychopathy. This study examined whether psychopathic traits [assessed via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R)] were associated with aberrant inter-network connectivity, intra-network connectivity (i.e., functional coherence within a network), and amplitude of fluctuations across limbic and surrounding paralimbic regions among incarcerated women (n = 297). Resting-state networks were identified by applying group Independent Component Analysis to resting-state fMRI scans. We tested the association of psychopathic traits (PCL-R Factor 1 measuring interpersonal/affective psychopathic traits and PCL-R Factor 2 assessing lifestyle/antisocial psychopathic traits) to the three FNC measures. PCL-R Factor 1 scores were associated with increased low-frequency fluctuations in executive control and attentional networks, decreased high-frequency fluctuations in executive control and visual networks, and decreased intra-network FNC in default mode network. PCL-R Factor 2 scores were associated with decreased high-frequency fluctuations and default mode networks, and both increased and decreased intra-network functional connectivity in visual networks. Similar to previous analyses in incarcerated men, our results suggest that psychopathic traits among incarcerated women are associated with aberrant intra-network amplitude fluctuations and connectivity across multiple networks including limbic and surrounding paralimbic regions.

Aberrant resting-state functional connectivity associated with childhood trauma among juvenile offenders

“…The rsfMRI data was compressed using two stages of PCA ( Rachakonda et al, 2016 ). For the first data reduction step, we retained 100 principal components (PCs), and 50 independent components (ICs) for group data reduction, consistent with previously published studies ( Allen et al, 2011a , Allen et al, 2022 , Erhardt et al, 2011 , Elseoud et al, 2011 , Kiviniemi et al, 2009 , Smith et al, 2009 , Ystad et al, 2010 ). Individual specific spatial maps and their time-courses were obtained using gICA.…”

“…Likewise, the relationship of trauma to alternative resting-state activational measures, including amplitude of fluctuations (AFs), has been left unexplored in the literature. AFs may be particularly important to investigate, as they have been linked to psychiatric disorders, behavioral characteristics, and are thought to underlie functional connectivity more generally ( Allen et al, 2022 , Eggart et al, 2019 , Gazula et al, 2022 , Guo et al, 2013 , Weightman et al, 2019 , Wielaard et al, 2018 , Yue et al, 2015 , Zamani Esfahlani et al, 2020 ), By assessing aberrant global (inter-network) and local (intra-network and AFs) measures of trauma-related connectivity, a more thorough picture of the effects of trauma on the brain can be offered.…”

Psychopathic traits and altered resting-state functional connectivity in incarcerated adolescent girls

“…We found that interpersonal/affective psychopathic traits (e.g., deficient empathy, a lack of remorse, and manipulativeness) were associated with increased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) in executive control and attentional networks, decreased high-frequency ALFFs in executive control and visual networks, and decreased intra-network connectivity in the default mode network. Lifestyle/antisocial psychopathic traits were associated with decreased high-frequency ALFFs in executive control and default mode networks, and both increased and decreased intra-network functional connectivity in visual networks (Allen et al, 2022b ), diverging from similar analyses conducted in adult men scoring high on psychopathic traits which found no effects for the same measure (Espinoza et al, 2018 ). These results suggest potentially sex-specific neurobiological correlates of high-risk phenotypes, primarily occurring across regions and networks involved in socioemotional processing.…”

“…The relationship of psychopathic traits to other resting-state activational measures in incarcerated adolescent girls, including ALFFs, has been left unexplored. Due to their demonstrated association with functional connectivity more generally, and psychiatric disorders and behavioral characteristics, ALFFs may be a useful mode of investigation in relation to psychopathic traits (Guo et al, 2013 ; Yue et al, 2015 ; Wielaard et al, 2018 ; Eggart et al, 2019 ; Weightman et al, 2019 ; Zamani Esfahlani et al, 2020 ; Allen et al, 2022b ; Gazula et al, 2022 ). By assessing the relationship of psychopathic traits to measures previously examined in the literature—such as altered inter-network and intra-network functional connectivity—as well as those unexamined in the literature (ALFFs), a more thorough picture of how these traits relate to altered functional brain connectivity on a local and global scale in relation to adolescent girls can be offered.…”

“…We hypothesized that abnormalities in functional network connectivity related to psychopathic traits would occur primarily in limbic, paralimbic, and default mode network related regions of the brain (i.e., temporal poles, amygdalae, caudate/putamen, orbitofrontal cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precunei). These regions span multiple cognitive domains, are involved in higher-order cognitive processes, such as emotion regulation, and are consistent with previously published studies in adolescent boys and adult men and women (Kiehl, 2006 ; Cope et al, 2014 ; Fairchild et al, 2014 ; Chen et al, 2015 ; Cohn et al, 2015 ; Philippi et al, 2015 ; Thijssen and Kiehl, 2017 ; Lindner et al, 2018 ; Dugré and Potvin, 2021 ; Thijssen et al, 2021 ; Umbach and Tottenham, 2021 ; Werhahn et al, 2021 ; Winters et al, 2021 ; Allen et al, 2022b ). Parallel to analyses by our research group in incarcerated adult women and adolescent boys scoring high on psychopathic traits, this study serves an important role in assessing whether psychopathy-related neural alterations are consistent from adolescence to adulthood, or rather, present differently in younger samples of women.…”