The British Journal of Psychiatry (2006) 189: 280-281. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.105.018150
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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SHORT REPORTS

Attention to the eyes and fear-recognition deficits in child psychopathy

Mark R. Dadds, PhD, Yael Perry, BPsych, David J. Hawes, PhD, Sabine Merz, BA, Alison C. Riddell, BPsych, Damien J. Haines, BPsych, Emel Solak, BPsych and Amali I. Abeygunawardane, BPsych

University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Correspondence: Dr Mark R. Dadds, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Email: m.dadds{at}unsw.edu.au

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

The ability to recognise fear is impaired in people with damage to the amygdala and, interestingly, in adult psychopathy. Here we confirm that deficits in recognising fear exist in children with psychopathic traits. We show for the first time that, as with patients with amygdala damage, this deficit can be temporarily corrected by simply asking them to focus on the eyes of other people. These data support models of psychopathy that emphasise specific dysfunction of the amygdala and suggest an innovative approach for intervening early in the development of psychopathy.


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