Brain abnormalities in high-risk violent offenders and their association with psychopathic traits and criminal recidivism.

Measures of psychopathy have been proved to be valuable for risk assessment in violent criminals. However, the neuronal basis of psychopathy and its contribution to the prediction of criminal recidivism is still poorly understood. We compared structural imaging data from 40 male high-risk violent offenders and 37 non-delinquent healthy controls via voxel-based morphometry. Psychopathic traits and risk of violence recidivism were correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) of regions of interest previously shown relevant for criminal behavior. Relative to controls, criminals showed less GMV in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and more GMV in cerebellar regions and basal ganglia structures. Within criminals, we found a negative correlation between prefrontal GMV and psychopathy. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between cerebellar GMV and psychopathy as well as risk of recidivism for violence. Moreover, GMVs of the basal ganglia and supplementary motor area (SMA) were positively correlated with anti-sociality. GMV of the amygdala was negatively correlated with dynamic risk for violence recidivism. In contrast, GMV of (para)limbic areas (orbitofrontal cortex, insula) was positively correlated with anti-sociality and risk of violence recidivism. The current investigation revealed that in violent offenders deviations in GMV of the PFC as well as areas involved in the motor component of impulse control (cerebellum, basal ganglia, SMA) are differentially related to psychopathic traits and the risk of violence recidivism. The results might be valuable for improving existing risk assessment tools.

Placebo treatment can alter primary visual cortex activity and connectivity.

Placebo treatment can alter brain activation in regions implicated in affective processing and cognitive control of emotions. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated whether a placebo can additionally modulate visual cortex activity and connectivity during affective picture perception. The participants underwent a retest design where they were presented with disgusting, fear-eliciting and neutral pictures both with, and without a placebo (inert pill presented with the suggestion that it can reduce disgust symptoms). The placebo provoked a strong decrease in experienced disgust. This was accompanied by a reduced activation of the primary visual cortex, which showed reduced interaction with the amygdala and the insula. Accordingly, placebos are able to affect basic perceptive processes.

Cerebellar activity and connectivity during the experience of disgust and happiness.

Previous research indicates that distinct subregions of the cerebellum are involved in the processing of different primary emotions. How this is achieved in terms of connectional specificity with other brain areas still needs to be elucidated. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to investigate cerebellar activation and connectivity relevant for the processing of two basic emotions. Thirty-four healthy women were presented with pictures that specifically elicited happiness and disgust with the instruction to rate the intensity of the experienced feelings. The contrasting of both affective conditions showed that disgust evoked activation of the vermis and the cerebellar hemispheres, whereas happiness-associated activation was restricted to the posterior cerebellum. Both emotions provoked increased connectivity of the cerebellum with limbic regions. The observed extended connectivity patterns can explain why cerebellar lesions are able to produce pronounced changes of affective experience in the afflicted patients.