Understanding Antisocial Behavior Through Autonomic Arousal, Nutrition, and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation

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Understanding Antisocial Behavior Through Autonomic Arousal, Nutrition, and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Understanding Antisocial Behavior Through Autonomic Arousal, Nutrition, And Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Olivia Choy University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Choy, Olivia, "Understanding Antisocial Behavior Through Autonomic Arousal, Nutrition, And Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2225. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2225 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2225 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Understanding Antisocial Behavior Through Autonomic Arousal, Nutrition, And Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Abstract Despite increasing awareness of the contributions of biological sciences in criminology, the extent to which biological variables are incorporated in criminological research and theories remains limited. This dissertation consists of five papers that examine biological factors in conjunction with social environmental and psychological variables to gain a more complete understanding of the etiology of antisocial behavior. Paper 1 examined whether a biological mechanism may help to explain why social environmental factors that are identified in many criminological theories are associated with antisocial behavior. The finding that low heart rate partly mediated the relationship between early social adversity and antisocial behavior in children gives rise to a social neurocriminology perspective whereby social environmental factors influence biology ot in turn lead to crime. Paper 2 expanded on this empirical proof of concept by proposing a biopsychosocial model to demonstrate how autonomic arousal can be incorporated into extant criminological theories. Paper 3 employed a biological perspective to explain an important phenomenon in criminology regarding the higher rate of male crime. Using longitudinal mediation analysis, the study is the first ot document that lower heart rates in males at age 11 years partly explain their higher levels of offending in adulthood. Findings support the consideration of biological processes in theoretical accounts of the gender gap. Paper 4 examined whether a nutritional factor, vitamin D, confers resilience to childhood antisocial behavior. The finding that meeting vitamin D sufficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration ≥ 30 ng/mL) nullified the social adversity- antisocial behavior relationship documents for the first time, a protective effect of vitamin D on antisocial behavior. Paper 5 examined the neural mechanisms underlying antisocial behavior using transcranial direct current stimulation. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, stratified, andomizr ed trial on healthy adults provided the first experimental evidence that increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex can reduce intentions to commit aggression. This effect was account for, in part, by enhanced perceptions of moral wrongfulness regarding the aggressive acts. Together, these studies have the potential to advance the field of criminology at conceptual and theoretical levels, as well as knowledge on the development of prevention and intervention programs for such behavior. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Criminology First Advisor Adrian Raine Keywords antisocial behavior, biosocial criminology, crime, heart rate, transcranial direct current stimulation, vitamin D Subject Categories Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2225 UNDERSTANDING ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR THROUGH AUTONOMIC AROUSAL, NUTRITION, AND NON-INVASIVE BRAIN STIMULATION Olivia Choy A DISSERTATION in Criminology Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Supervisor of Dissertation Graduate Group Chairperson _______________________ _________________________ Adrian Raine, D.Phil. Charles Loeffler, Ph.D. Richard Perry University Professor, Jerry Lee Assistant Professor Departments of Criminology, Department of Criminology Psychology, and Psychiatry Dissertation Committee Adrian Raine Richard Perry University Professor, Departments of Criminology, Psychology, and Psychiatry Jason Schnittker Professor, Department of Sociology Martha Farah Professor, Department of Psychology ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am very grateful to all the people who have contributed to my PhD experience in inimitable ways. Most of all, I must thank my supervisor, Adrian Raine, who has been instrumental in every stage of my university experience, for it was in my freshman year that I was first introduced to the idea of a PhD, long before it became clear that I would complete this dissertation. I am immensely thankful for his generous mentorship and support over the past 7 years. I owe so very much of what I know about academia to him. I also thank Jason Schnittker and Martha Farah. From volunteering to try tDCS to agreeing to go through five papers, I so appreciate their enthusiasm and support, which have served as big sources of motivation for me as the dissertation transitioned from proposals to completed papers. Beyond my dissertation committee, my appreciation goes to the individuals who contributed to versions of these papers in various ways: David Farrington, Peter Venables, Roy Hamilton, Jill Portnoy, Anna Rudo-Hutt, Yu Gao, and Liana Soyfer. Additionally, the studies in this dissertation were funded, in part, under grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (SAP# 4100043366), the Clinical and Translational Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (UL1-RR-024134), the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-46435), the Wellcome Trust (UK), and the Leverhulme Trust (UK). The PhD journey has been made easier with the support of the Criminology department. I especially thank John MacDonald and Charles Loeffler for their guidance and advice, as well as Knakiya Hagans, Caroline Gonzalez Ciccone, and Addie Métivier ii for their invaluable help. I would also like to acknowledge with gratitude, past and current members of the Raine Lab and fellow PhD students, who have been a big part of my PhD experience in numerous ways. Finally, I thank my family whose encouragement to pursue Criminology, which began even before my very first semester at Penn, was truly the first step towards this dissertation. iii ABSTRACT UNDERSTANDING ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR THROUGH AUTONOMIC AROUSAL, NUTRITION, AND NON-INVASIVE BRAIN STIMULATION Olivia Choy Adrian Raine Despite increasing awareness of the contributions of biological sciences in criminology, the extent to which biological variables are incorporated in criminological research and theories remains limited. This dissertation consists of five papers that examine biological factors in conjunction with social environmental and psychological variables to gain a more complete understanding of the etiology of antisocial behavior. Paper 1 examined whether a biological mechanism may help to explain why social environmental factors that are identified in many criminological theories are associated with antisocial behavior. The finding that low heart rate partly mediated the relationship between early social adversity and antisocial behavior in children gives rise to a social neurocriminology perspective whereby social environmental factors influence biology to in turn lead to crime. Paper 2 expanded on this empirical proof of concept by proposing a biopsychosocial model to demonstrate how autonomic arousal can be incorporated into extant criminological theories. Paper 3 employed a biological perspective to explain an important phenomenon in criminology regarding the higher rate of male crime. Using longitudinal mediation analysis, the study is the first to document that lower heart rates in males at age 11 years partly explain their higher levels of offending in adulthood. iv Findings support the consideration of biological processes in theoretical accounts of the gender gap. Paper 4 examined whether a nutritional factor, vitamin D, confers resilience to childhood antisocial behavior. The finding that meeting vitamin D sufficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration ≥ 30 ng/mL) nullified the social adversity-antisocial behavior relationship documents for the first time, a protective effect of vitamin D on antisocial behavior. Paper 5 examined the neural mechanisms underlying antisocial behavior using transcranial direct current stimulation. A double-blind, placebo- controlled, stratified, randomized trial on healthy adults provided the first experimental evidence that increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex can reduce intentions to commit aggression. This effect was account for, in part, by enhanced perceptions of moral wrongfulness regarding the aggressive acts. Together, these studies have the potential to advance the field of criminology at conceptual and theoretical levels, as well as knowledge on the development of prevention and intervention programs for such behavior. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................
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