title: Fear extinction, persistent disruptive behavior and psychopathic traits: fMRI in late adolescence.
abstract: Children diagnosed with a Disruptive Behavior Disorder (DBD, i.e. Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder), especially those with psychopathic traits, are at risk of developing persistent and severe antisocial behavior. Reduced fear conditioning has been proposed to underlie persistent antisocial development. However, we have recently shown that both DBD persisters and desisters are characterized by increased fear conditioning compared with healthy controls (HCs). In this study, we investigated whether brain function during fear extinction is associated with DBD subgroup-membership and psychopathic traits. Adolescents from a childhood arrestee cohort (mean age 17.6 years, s.d. 1.4) who met criteria for a DBD diagnosis during previous assessments were re-assessed and categorized as persistent DBD (n = 25) or desistent DBD (n = 25). Functional MRI during the extinction phase of a classical fear-conditioning task was used to compare regional brain function between these subgroups and 25 matched controls. Both DBD persisters and desisters showed hyperreactivity during fear extinction, when compared with HCs. Impulsive-irresponsible psychopathic traits were positively associated with responses in the fear neurocircuitry and mediated the association between neural activation and group membership. These results suggest that fear acquisition and fear extinction deficits may provide an endophenotype for an emotionally hyperreactive subtype of antisocial development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center and m.cohn@debascule.com.
authors.forename: Moran D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center and.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Lith
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Merel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kindt
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center and Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, Center for Brain Imaging, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Louise E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Pape
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center and.
authors.forename: Theo A H
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Doreleijers
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van den Brink
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and.
authors.forename: Dick J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Veltman
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center and Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Popma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
keywords: antisocial behavior; extinction; fMRI; fear conditioning; psychopathy