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Cited by 257Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPersonality Traits and Psychology

Neuroimaging of psychopathy and antisocial behavior: a targeted review

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Blair, R. J. R.·2010·Current Psychiatry Reports
DOI 10.1007/s11920-009-0086-xPMC PMC3941715
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Abstract

The goal of this article is to provide a selective and targeted review of the neuroimaging literature on psychopathic tendencies and antisocial behavior and to explore the extent to which this literature supports recent cognitive neuroscientific models of psychopathy and antisocial behavior. The literature reveals that individuals who present with an increased risk for reactive, but not instrumental, aggression show increased amygdala responses to emotionally evocative stimuli. This is consistent with suggestions that such individuals are primed to respond strongly to an inappropriate extent to threatening or frustrating events. In contrast, individuals with psychopathic tendencies show decreased amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex responses to emotionally provocative stimuli or during emotional learning paradigms. This is consistent with suggestions that such individuals face difficulties with basic forms of emotional learning and decision making.

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  • Structurally, the gray matter volumes of amygdala and insula are often reduced in emotional instability disorders.

    “Structurally, the gray matter volumes of amygdala and insula are often reduced in such disorders (Blair, 2010; Rubia, 2011; Blair et al., 2014; Glenn and Raine, 2014; Krause-Utz et al., 2014).”

    From Top-Down Dysregulation—From ADHD to Emotional Instability (2016) · cites this paper as Blair, 2010

    In “Maladaptive Instrumental Aggression” (page unavailable), the review reports reduced amygdala volume in adults with psychopathic traits and reduced insula gray-matter volume in adult samples. It does not establish that both are often reduced across emotional-instability disorders; it also reports increased gray-matter volume in the insula-related regions among youth with psychopathic tendencies. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Emotional instability disorders are characterized by emotional hyper-responsiveness in amygdala and insula, regions involved in shaping emotional responses and experience.

    “These “emotional instability disorders” are characterized by emotional hyper-responsiveness in amygdala and insula, regions involved in shaping emotional responses and experience (Blair, 2010; Rubia, 2011; Blair et al., 2014; Glenn and Raine, 2014; Krause-Utz et al., 2014).”

    From Top-Down Dysregulation—From ADHD to Emotional Instability (2016) · cites this paper as Blair, 2010

    In “Testing the Models > Maladaptive Reactive Aggression” (page unavailable), the review reports increased amygdala responses to threatening stimuli in groups at heightened risk of reactive aggression, including patients with borderline personality disorder. It does not report insula hyper-responsiveness in those groups or establish the claimed role of both regions in shaping emotional experience. Its discussion of the insula concerns psychopathy instead. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Blair, R. J. R.
Venue
Current Psychiatry Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2010-01-29
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
76-82
ISSN
  • 1523-3812 (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-1645
DOI
10.1007/s11920-009-0086-x
PMC
PMC3941715
OpenAlex
W2065985302
Cited by
257
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 19
FWCI
3.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Current Psychiatry Reports (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (Z01MH002860)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Keywords
psychopathy, antisocial behavior, reactive aggression, proactive aggression, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, emotional learning, decision-making
MeSH terms
Aggression, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Brain, Brain Mapping, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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