Deficient Fear Conditioning in Psychopathy

Birbaumer, Niels; Veit, Ralf; Lotze, Martín; Erb, Michael; Hermann, Christiane; Grodd, Wolfgang; Flor, Herta

doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.7.799

Cited by 623 publications

(252 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Blair, Mitchell and Blair (2005) suggest that an inborn affective deficit might interfere with the development of attachment in some individuals with psychopathic traits. This deficit is related to amygdala hypoactivity (Birbaumer et al, 2005;Marsh et al, 2008;Viding et al, 2014). Recent studies corroborate this by showing that adequate amygdala activity is related to attachment security (Lemche et al, 2006;Riem et al, 2012;Vrtička, Andersson, Grandjean, Sander, & Vuilleumier, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Examining psychopathy from an attachment perspective: the role of fear of rejection and abandonment

Conradi

Boertien

Cavus

et al. 2015

The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology

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(144 words)A key feature of psychopathy, a self-centered orientation towards others and a failure to truly connect, is poorly understood. The attachment framework can be used to examine underlying interpersonal mechanisms. Because of the overall failure to connect we anticipated, and found, in a large undergraduate sample (n=1,074), that both affective-interpersonal traits and impulsiveirresponsible psychopathy facets were positively related to attachment avoidance. Different dynamics may underlie this distancing from others, as evidenced by the fact that callousunemotionality was negatively related to attachment anxiety, whereas grandiose-manipulative and impulsive-irresponsible traits were positively related to attachment anxiety. Although effect sizes were small and are of correlational nature, our results are in line with a dual deficit model that differential developmental trajectories, largely heritable callousness versus neglecting and abusive parenting, may lead to adult psychopathy. The differentiating role of fear of rejection and abandonment for the psychopathy construct is discussed. 3-6

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Examining psychopathy from an attachment perspective: the role of fear of rejection and abandonment

Conradi

Boertien

Cavus

et al. 2015

The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology

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show abstract

“…This may be the case for psychopathic characteristics, such as manipulativeness, insincerity, egocentricity and lack of guilt. Research has revealed that high 4 scores on psychopathic traits reduce empathy for others when experiencing negative consequences such as sadness, fear or disgust 5,57 . No evidence is yet available about the impact of psychopathic traits in the interpersonal context of pain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negative Emotional Responses Elicited by the Anticipation of Pain in Others: Psychophysiological Evidence

Caes

Uzieblo

Crombez

et al. 2012

The Journal of Pain

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Limited evidence is available about factors influencing observers' anticipatory emotional responses to another's pain. We investigated fear and distress towards the threat of pain in others, and the moderating role of observers' psychopathic traits and catastrophizing about own or other's pain. Thirty-six dyads of healthy participants were randomly assigned to either the role of observer or observed participant. Both participants were instructed that one coloured slide (blue or yellow) signalled that a pain stimulus could possibly be delivered to the observed participant (= pain signal), whereas no pain stimulus would be delivered when a differently coloured slide was presented (= safety signal). Observers' self-reported fear, fearpotentiated startle and corrugator EMG activity during pain and safety signals were measured. Furthermore, observers rated the presence of pain after each trial allowing assessment of observers' perceptual sensitivity to other's pain. Results indicated that selfreported fear, fear-potentiated startle and corrugator EMG activity were augmented during pain signals compared to safety signals. Moreover, these negative emotional responses were heightened in observers highly catastrophizing about other's pain, but reduced in observers with heightened psychopathic traits. Psychopathic traits were also related with a diminished perceptual sensitivity to other's pain. The results are discussed in light of affectivemotivational perspectives on pain.

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“…In studies applying brain imaging techniques to other groups of antisocial subjects, functional impairments in the frontal lobes [37] and the limbic system [38,39] have been demonstrated, and a suggested impairment in the balance between these two systems has been described [40][41][42]. These studies have reported both hypoactivity [38,43] and hyperactivity [40,42] in the amygdala and the limbic system compared to healthy controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain Processing of Fearful Facial Expression in Mentally Disordered Offenders

Howner¹,

Fischer²,

Dierks³

et al. 2011

JBBS

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Emotional facial expressions are important cues for interaction between people. The aim of the present study was to investigate brain function when processing fearful facial expressions in offenders with two psychiatric disorders which include impaired emotional facial perception; autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and psychopathy (PSY). Fourteen offenders undergoing forensic psychiatric assessment (7 with ASD, and 7 psychopathic offenders) and 12 healthy controls (HC) viewed fearful and neutral faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Brain activity (fearful versus neutral faces) was compared both between HC and offenders and between the two offender groups (PSY and ASD). Functional co-activation was also investigated. The offenders had increased activity bilaterally in amygdala and medial cingulate cortex as well as the left hippocampus during processing fearful facial expressions compared to HC. The two subgroups of offenders differed in five regions compared with each other. Results from functional co-activation analysis suggested a strong correlation between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the left hemisphere only in the PSY group. These findings suggest enhanced neural processing of fearful faces in the amygdala as well as in other facial processing brain areas in offenders compared to HC. Moreover, the coactivation between amygdala and ACC in the PSY but not the ASD group suggested qualitative differences in amygdala activity in the two groups. Since the sample size is small the study should be regarded as a pilot study.

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Deficient Fear Conditioning in Psychopathy

Abstract: This dissociation of emotional and cognitive processing may be the neural basis of the lack of anticipation of aversive events in criminal psychopaths.

Cited by 623 publications

References 42 publications

Examining psychopathy from an attachment perspective: the role of fear of rejection and abandonment

Examining psychopathy from an attachment perspective: the role of fear of rejection and abandonment

Negative Emotional Responses Elicited by the Anticipation of Pain in Others: Psychophysiological Evidence

Brain Processing of Fearful Facial Expression in Mentally Disordered Offenders

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