No volumetric differences in the anterior cingulate of psychopathic individuals

Received 30 October 2009; received in revised form 16 March 2010; accepted 16 May 2010.

Abstract

Functional imaging studies of psychopathy have demonstrated reduced activity in the anterior cingulate, yet it is unclear whether this region is structurally impaired. In this study, we used structural MRI to examine whether volumetric differences exist in the anterior cingulate between psychopathic (n=24) and control (n=24) male participants. We found no group differences in the volume of the anterior cingulate or its dorsal and ventral subregions. Our findings call into question whether the anterior cingulate is impaired in psychopathy, or whether previous findings of reduced activity may result from reduced input from other deficient regions.

Keywords: Psychopathy, Structural MRI, Antisocial, Emotion, Cognition

a Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3809 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

b Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, 3809 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

c Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 3809 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

d Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, 635 Charles Young Drive South, Suite 225, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

e Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1969 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA

Corresponding author. 3720 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Tel.: +1 215 746 4390; fax: +1 215 746 4239.

PII: S0925-4927(10)00188-5

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.05.009

9 of 16