RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Abnormal interhemispheric connectivity in male psychopathic offenders
JF Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO J Psychiatry Neurosci
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP 22
OP 30
DO 10.1503/jpn.120046
VO 39
IS 1
A1 Hoppenbrouwers, Sylco S.
A1 De Jesus, Danilo R.
A1 Sun, Yinming
A1 Stirpe, Tania
A1 Hofman, Dennis
A1 McMaster, Jeff
A1 Hughes, Ginny
A1 Daskalakis, Zafiris J.
A1 Schutter, Dennis J.L.G.
YR 2014
UL http://jpn.ca/content/39/1/22.abstract
AB Background: Psychopathic offenders inevitably violate interpersonal norms and frequently resort to aggressive and criminal behaviour. The affective and cognitive deficits underlying these behaviours have been linked to abnormalities in functional interhemispheric connectivity. However, direct neurophysiological evidence for dysfunctional connectivity in psychopathic offenders is lacking.Methods: We used transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography to examine interhemispheric connectivity in the dorsolateral and motor cortex in a sample of psychopathic offenders and healthy controls. We also measured intracortical inhibition and facilitation over the left and right motor cortex to investigate the effects of local cortical processes on interhemispheric connectivity.Results: We enrolled 17 psychopathic offenders and 14 controls in our study. Global abnormalities in right to left functional connectivity were observed in psychopathic offenders compared with controls. Furthermore, in contrast to controls, psychopathic offenders showed increased intracortical inhibition in the right, but not the left, hemisphere.Limitations: The relatively small sample size limited the sensitivity to show that the abnormalities in interhemispheric connectivity were specifically related to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in psychopathic offenders.Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study provides the first neurophysiological evidence for abnormal interhemispheric connectivity in psychopathic offenders and may further our understanding of the disruptive antisocial behaviour of these offenders.