Psychopathic traits are differentially associated with efficiency of neural communication

Abstract

Recent advances in the application of graph theory made it possible to quantify the efficiency of communication within a neural network, going beyond traditional connectivity methods that only identify the degree to which neural regions are connected. Psychopathic traits, namely, interpersonal-affective and impulsive-antisocial traits, have been linked to widespread and distinct disruptions in neural connectivity. The efficiency of neural communication for individuals high on these psychopathic traits, though, is unknown. In the present study, resting-state EEG was used to generate a connectivity matrix (i.e., weighted phase lag index) for multiple frequency bands. These connectivity matrices were examined using minimum spanning tree analysis, a graph theory approach that allows for the examination of neural efficiency, and regressed on Self-Report Psychopathy-Short Form scores (n = 158, unselected community sample). Results indicated that individuals with higher interpersonal-affective traits had significantly less efficient communication within alpha1 (i.e., long-range neural communication) and gamma (i.e., short-range neural communication) frequency bands. Conversely, individuals with higher impulsive-antisocial traits had more efficient communication within these same frequency bands. Overall, elevated psychopathic traits were related to alterations in the basic efficiency of neural communication. Moreover, this unique application of graph analysis provides a new avenue for inquiry into the mechanisms underlying the chronic and severe behavior of individuals with psychopathic traits.

Connections that characterize callousness: Affective features of psychopathy are associated with personalized patterns of resting-state network connectivity

“…Node centrality. As exploratory analyses, we calculated node centrality for each participant (i.e., number of connections involving the node, regardless of whether they were contemporaneous or lagged) to determine whether any regions were “hub-like” (i.e., high number of connections to and/or from this region,), as in previous studies that have examined network organization ( Lindner et al, 2018 , Lu et al, 2017 , Tillem et al, 2019 , Tillem et al, 2018 , Yang et al, 2012 ).…”

The Empathic Brain of Psychopaths: From Social Science to Neuroscience in Empathy

“…Also, given the complex structure of psychopathic personality, it is likely that particular traits within psychopathic personality (i.e., more related to F1 or F2 traits, or boldness, meanness, or disinhibition) are differentially associated with complex brain networks in different frequency bands, and with different topological properties of the functional connectivity. In a recent study, Tillem et al (2018) applied a novel graph theory analysis, minimum spanning tree (MST) analysis, to resting-state EEG data. They found that the interpersonalaffective traits of psychopathy (F1) were associated with decreased efficiency in neural communication between both local and distal brain regions.…”

Psychopathy is associated with shifts in the organization of neural networks in a large incarcerated male sample

“…Second, other graph analysis methods produce graphs containing a variable number of edges across individuals, biasing between-graph comparisons by artificially inflating the likelihood of finding between-graph differences. MST analyses, however, produce graphs with a fixed number of edges across individuals, allowing for unbiased comparisons of neural organization between individuals (e.g., individuals at differing levels of psychopathy; Gonzalez et al., 2016; Reijneveld et al., 2007; Smit et al., 2016; Stam and Reijneveld, 2007; Stam et al., 2014; Tewarie et al., 2015; Tillem et al., 2018). Given these advantages, MST analysis provided a robust means to evaluate the relationship between psychopathy and the optimality of neural network organization.…”

“…By contrast, given existing evidence indicating enhanced attention to goal-relevant information among individuals higher on psychopathy, we hypothesized that inmates higher in psychopathy would exhibit a more optimally organized dorsal attention network. Finally, there is recent work linking aspects of psychopathy to shifts in the structural organization of the brain (particularly within the frontal lobe; Yang et al., 2012) that may impact global (i.e., whole-brain) neural communication (Tillem et al., 2018). Therefore, we conducted an exploratory whole-brain MST analysis to evaluate the impact of psychopathy on both whole-brain neural optimality and the organizational centrality of various neural networks to global information flow.…”