Premium
Brain response to viewing others being harmed in children with conduct disorder symptoms
Author(s) -
Michalska Kalina J.,
Zeffiro Thomas A.,
Decety Jean
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12474
Subject(s) - psychology , insula , superior temporal sulcus , empathy , harm , functional magnetic resonance imaging , anterior cingulate cortex , amygdala , aggression , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience , social psychology , cognition
Background Deficient empathic processing is thought to foster conduct disorder ( CD ). It is important to determine the extent to which neural response associated with perceiving harm to others predicts CD symptoms and callous disregard for others. Methods A total of 107 9‐ to 11‐year‐old children (52 female) were recruited from pediatric and mental health clinics, representing a wide range of CD symptoms. Children were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing brief video clips of persons being harmed intentionally or accidentally. Results Perceiving harm evoked increased hemodynamic response in the anterior insula ( aINS ), anterior cingulate cortex ( ACC ), amygdala, periaqueductal gray ( PAG ), caudate, and inferior parietal lobe ( IPL ) across all participants. Intentionally caused, relative to unintentional harm was associated with greater activity in the aINS , amygdala, and temporal pole. There was an inverse association of number of CD symptoms with right posterior insula in both the Harm > No Harm and the Intentional > Unintentional Harm contrasts. Furthermore, an inverse association between callousness and posterior insula activation was found in the Harm > No Harm contrast, with the opposite pattern for reactive aggression scores. An interaction revealed a stronger association in girls between CD symptoms and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus ( pSTS ) in the Intentional Harm versus Unintentional Harm contrast. Conclusions Children with greater CD and callousness exhibit dampened hemodynamic response to viewing others being harmed in the insula, a region which plays a key role in empathy and emotional awareness. Sex differences in the neural correlates of CD were observed.