TY - JOUR
T1 - Disorganized Amygdala Networks in Conduct-Disordered Juvenile Offenders With Callous-Unemotional Traits
AU - Aghajani, Moji
AU - Klapwijk, Eduard T.
AU - van der Wee, Nic J.
AU - Veer, Ilya M.
AU - Rombouts, Serge A.R.B.
AU - Boon, Albert E.
AU - van Beelen, Peter
AU - Popma, Arne
AU - Vermeiren, Robert R.J.M.
AU - Colins, Olivier F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Society of Biological Psychiatry
PY - 2017/8/15
Y1 - 2017/8/15
N2 - Background The developmental trajectory of psychopathy seemingly begins early in life and includes the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., deficient emotional reactivity, callousness) in conduct-disordered (CD) youth. Though subregion-specific anomalies in amygdala function have been suggested in CU pathophysiology among antisocial populations, system-level studies of CU traits have typically examined the amygdala as a unitary structure. Hence, nothing is yet known of how amygdala subregional network function may contribute to callous-unemotionality in severely antisocial people. Methods We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral amygdala (BLA) and centromedial amygdala (CMA) networks across three matched groups of juveniles: CD offenders with CU traits (CD/CU+; n = 25), CD offenders without CU traits (CD/CU−; n = 25), and healthy control subjects (n = 24). We additionally examined whether perturbed amygdala subregional connectivity coincides with altered volume and shape of the amygdaloid complex. Results Relative to CD/CU− and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed abnormally increased BLA connectivity with a cluster that included both dorsal and ventral portions of the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices, along with posterior cingulate, sensory associative, and striatal regions. In contrast, compared with CD/CU− and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed diminished CMA connectivity with ventromedial/orbitofrontal regions. Critically, these connectivity changes coincided with local hypotrophy of BLA and CMA subregions (without being statistically correlated) and were associated to more severe CU symptoms. Conclusions These findings provide unique insights into a putative mechanism for perturbed attention-emotion interactions, which could bias salience processing and associative learning in youth with CD/CU+.
AB - Background The developmental trajectory of psychopathy seemingly begins early in life and includes the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., deficient emotional reactivity, callousness) in conduct-disordered (CD) youth. Though subregion-specific anomalies in amygdala function have been suggested in CU pathophysiology among antisocial populations, system-level studies of CU traits have typically examined the amygdala as a unitary structure. Hence, nothing is yet known of how amygdala subregional network function may contribute to callous-unemotionality in severely antisocial people. Methods We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral amygdala (BLA) and centromedial amygdala (CMA) networks across three matched groups of juveniles: CD offenders with CU traits (CD/CU+; n = 25), CD offenders without CU traits (CD/CU−; n = 25), and healthy control subjects (n = 24). We additionally examined whether perturbed amygdala subregional connectivity coincides with altered volume and shape of the amygdaloid complex. Results Relative to CD/CU− and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed abnormally increased BLA connectivity with a cluster that included both dorsal and ventral portions of the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices, along with posterior cingulate, sensory associative, and striatal regions. In contrast, compared with CD/CU− and healthy control youths, CD/CU+ youths showed diminished CMA connectivity with ventromedial/orbitofrontal regions. Critically, these connectivity changes coincided with local hypotrophy of BLA and CMA subregions (without being statistically correlated) and were associated to more severe CU symptoms. Conclusions These findings provide unique insights into a putative mechanism for perturbed attention-emotion interactions, which could bias salience processing and associative learning in youth with CD/CU+.
KW - Amygdala
KW - Callous-unemotional traits
KW - Conduct disorder
KW - Intrinsic functional connectivity
KW - Morphometry
KW - Psychopathy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994299047&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.017
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 27502216
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 82
SP - 283
EP - 293
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 4
ER -