Interpersonal Traits of Psychopathy Linked to Reduced Integrity of the Uncinate Fasciculus
r Human Brain Mapping 36:4202–4209 (2015) r Interpersonal Traits of Psychopathy Linked to Reduced Integrity of the Uncinate Fasciculus Richard C. Wolf,1,2 Maia S. Pujara,1,2 Julian C. Motzkin,1,2 Joseph P. Newman,3 Kent A. Kiehl,4,5 Jean Decety,6 David S. Kosson,7 and Michael Koenigs1* 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 2Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 3Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 4The Non-Profit MIND Research Network, An Affiliate of Lovelace Biomedical And Environmental Research Institute (LBERI), Albuquerque, New Mexico 5Departments of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Law, University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 6Department of Psychology, University Of Chicago, Illinois 7Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University Of Medicine And Science, North Chicago, Illinois r r Abstract: Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by callous lack of empathy, impulsive antisocial behavior, and criminal recidivism. Here, we performed the largest diffusion tensor imag- ing (DTI) study of incarcerated criminal offenders to date (N 5 147) to determine whether psychopa- thy severity is linked to the microstructural integrity of major white matter tracts in the brain. Consistent with the results of previous studies in smaller samples, we found that psychopathy was associated with reduced fractional anisotropy in the right uncinate fasciculus (UF; the major white matter tract connecting ventral frontal and anterior temporal cortices). We found no such associa- tion in the left UF or in adjacent frontal or temporal white matter tracts. Moreover, the right UF finding was specifically related to the interpersonal features of psychopathy (glib superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, manipulativeness), rather than the affective, anti- social, or lifestyle features.
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