Antisocial behaviour Flashcards
ASPD
Apparent lack of remorse
Persistent lying or stealing
Cruelty to animals
Recurring difficulties with the law
Promiscuity / Poor or abusive relationships
Aggressive, often violent behavior; prone to getting involved in fights
Inability to tolerate boredom
Lack access to own feelings and emotions
Not good at detecting emotions (especially fear) in others
Reduced empathy
Severe disruption in moral behavior
Psychopaths vs ASPD
Psychopaths = subset of ASPD
Callousness, manipulativeness, glibness and superficial charm
Often (highly) intelligent
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Often: seems to function normal in society
ASPD only:
More pronounced poor behavioral controls = inadequate control of anger and temper
Often: more rude, aggressive, abusive and angry behavior
Structurally impaired areas in ASPD
PFC, amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate and temporal cortex
Fearlessness
Reduced amygdala response to fearful photos
Not good at detecting emotions, especially fear, in others’ voices
Trouble identifying fearful facial expressions
Poor fear conditioning
Unusually high disgust thresholds, tolerating repellent smells and images (due to reduced insula functioning)
Reduced empathy
Fear conditioning research
Fear conditioning research
Fear conditioning = basic form of learning mediated by amygdala > fear is associated with previously neutral stimulus
Fear conditioning is mechanism by which we link antisocial acts with negative consequences (punishment, social exclusion)
Failure fear conditioning = failure social learning > predispose to antisocial behavior
If poor fear conditioning causal role in crime > detectable early in life before antisocial behavior becomes manifest
Cavum septum pellucidum
Marker for maldevelopment. Usually closes before/just after birth.
Failure of closure causes maldevelopment.
Individuals with CSP > significant higher probability levels of antisocial personality, psychopathy, criminal charges and convictions
Controlled for trauma exposure, head injury, comorbid psychiatric disorders
Early brain maldeveloment of limbic structures predisposes to antisocial behaviors
Findings consistent with neurodevelopmental basis
Factors affecting brain development prenatal and postnatal
Stress during pregnancy
Birth complications
Prenatal alcohol or nicotine use
Prenatal malnutrition
Early postnatal malnutrition
Failure to bond to caregivers
Environment risk factors
Childhood maltreatment
Traumatic head injury
Parental neglect / Inconsistent parenting
Parental criminality
Poverty
Malnutrition (zinc-, iron- vitamine B2-, omega-3 fatty acids- deficiencies, excess of lead)
Genetics
Twin studies estimate heritability antisocial behavior: 40-50%
40-50% of the variance in ASPD-symptoms can be explained by variance in genes
Male sex is a risk factor
Risk genes
MAO-A , DAT1, D4D-7R
MAO-A
Mono Amine Oxidase is enzyme that breaks down serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline): two Variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphisms, low and high activity gene-variants
MAO-A and maltreatment
Low MAOA activity gene is the risk gene instead of the high activity.
When no maltreatment is present both versions of the gene are the exact same
Psychopaths
Remorseless (meedogenloosheid)
Charming
Concentration
Callousness (emotionally hardened)
Daring (onbevreesd)
Risk taking
Influencial / Manipulative behavior
Propensity for empathy