Jones, Alice P.; Laurens, Kristin R.; Herba, Catherine M.; Barker, Gareth J. and Viding, Essi. 2009. Amygdala Hypoactivity to Fearful Faces in Boys With Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166(1), pp. 95-102. ISSN 0002-953X [Article]

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Abstract or Description

OBJECTIVE: Although early-onset conduct problems predict both psychiatric and health problems in adult life, little research has been done to index neural correlates of conduct problems. Emerging research suggests that a subgroup of children with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits may be genetically vulnerable to manifesting disturbances in neural reactivity to emotional stimuli indexing distress. Using functional MRI, the authors evaluated differences in neural response to emotional stimuli between boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits and comparison boys. METHOD: Seventeen boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits and 13 comparison boys of equivalent age (mean=11 years) and IQ (mean=100) viewed blocked presentations of fearful and neutral faces. For each face, participants distinguished the sex of the face via manual response. RESULTS: Relative to the comparison group, boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits manifested lesser right amygdala activity to fearful faces. CONCLUSIONS: This finding is in line with data from studies of adults with antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits (i.e., psychopaths), as well as from a recent study of adolescents with callous-unemotional traits, and suggests that the neural substrates of emotional impairment associated with callous-unemotional antisocial behavior are already present in childhood.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07071050
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event January 2009 Published
Item ID:	3377
Date Deposited:	13 Aug 2010 11:09
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2021 18:43
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/3377

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• Amygdala Hypoactivity to Fearful Faces in Boys With Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits. (deposited 25 Feb 2010 08:57)
  • Amygdala Hypoactivity to Fearful Faces in Boys With Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits. (deposited 13 Aug 2010 11:09) [Currently Displayed]

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