Premium
Behavioral inhibition deficits in juvenile psychopaths
Author(s) -
Roussy Sylvain,
Toupin Jean
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/1098-2337(200011)26:6<413::aid-ab1>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - psychology , psychopathy , frontal lobe , antisocial personality disorder , orbitofrontal cortex , developmental psychology , neuroscience , poison control , injury prevention , cognition , personality , prefrontal cortex , social psychology , medicine , environmental health
Although many studies have shown that delinquents are impaired on certain executive function tasks related to frontal lobe functioning, whether psychopaths present with such impairments is still controversial. Lapierre et al. [1995. Neuropsychologia 33:139–151] have investigated a more specific hypothesis of orbitofrontal deficits in psychopaths and found that psychopathic criminals are impaired on tasks involving behavioral inhibition and olfactory discrimination. The present study sought to replicate these results with juvenile psychopaths 14 to 18 years of age. As expected, psychopaths were found to be significantly impaired on behavioral inhibition tasks. However, psychopathic and nonpsychopathic inmates performed similarly on measures related to the dorsolateral area of the frontal lobe. Also, no significant intergroup difference was noted on the olfactory discrimination task. Although an orbitofrontal deficit in psychopathy remains possible, it is suggested to explain results through a functional inhibition deficit that is not specifically related to orbitofrontal processing. Aggr. Behav. 26:413–424, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.