title: Modulatory effects of psychopathy on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in male offenders with Antisocial Personality Disorder.
abstract: Neuropsychological deficits in executive functions (EF) have been linked to antisocial behavior and considered to be cardinal to the onset and persistence of severe antisocial and aggressive behavior. However, when psychopathy is present, prior evidence suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is unaffected leading to intact EF. Ninety-one male offenders with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and 24 controls completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). ASPD individuals were grouped in three categories according to Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores (low, medium and high). We hypothesized that ASPD offenders with high PCL-R scores will not differ from healthy controls in EF and will show better EF performance in comparison with subjects with low PCL-R scores. Results showed that ASPD offenders with low PCL-R scores committed more perseverative errors and responses than controls and offenders with high PCL-R scores, which did not differ from healthy controls. Moreover, scores on Factor 1 and the interpersonal facet of the PCL-R were predictors of better WCST performance. Our results suggest a modulatory role of psychopathy in the cognitive performance of ASPD offenders, and provide further evidence supporting that offenders with ASPD and psychopathy are characterized by a cognitive profile different from those with ASPD without psychopathy.
authors.affiliation: Child-Juvenile Mental Health Center of Sant Joan de Déu, Lleida, Spain; Biomedical Research Institute (IRB), Lleida, Spain; Medicine Department, University of Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pera-Guardiola
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute (IRB), Lleida, Spain; Medicine Department, University of Lleida, Spain; GSS, Hospital Santa Maria, Psychiatry Department, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Iolanda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Batalla
authors.affiliation: Medical Department of Ponent Penitentiary Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bosque
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kosson
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute (IRB), Lleida, Spain; Medicine Department, University of Lleida, Spain; GSS, Hospital Santa Maria, Psychiatry Department, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pifarré
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain; Department Clinical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hernández-Ribas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Depression and anxiety program, Department of Mental Health, Parc Tauli Sabadell Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ximena
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain; Red de Trastornos Adictivos, Department of Personality and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Oren
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Contreras-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain; Department Clinical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Menchón
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain; Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: csoriano@idibell.cat.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soriano-Mas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Depression and anxiety program, Department of Mental Health, Parc Tauli Sabadell Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Narcís
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cardoner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D057189:Checklist; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Antisocial Personality Disorder; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Executive function; Interpersonal facet; PCL-R; Perseverative errors; Psychopathy