Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-p566r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T00:51:20.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Psychopathy – a Neurobiological Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Mairead Dolan*
Affiliation:
Ashworth Hospital (North), Maghull, Merseyside L31 1HW

Abstract

Background.

Diagnostic and conceptual issues relating to psychopathy are widely debated, but advances in our understanding of the aetiology are limited.

Method.

A PSYCHLIT computerised database search of publications covering five decades was supplemented by tracing back through references from existing review work.

Results.

Over 200 articles were extracted, and 95 were selected for review.

Conclusions.

It is timely to evaluate the rôle of brain dysfunction. Biological determinants are under-researched and the lack of consistency in operational definitions in published research precludes anything more than tentative conclusions about the genetic, biochemical or electrophysiological correlates of psychopathy and antisocial behaviour. A multi-modal research programme is required in the search for a comprehensive model of psychopathy that can guide both research efforts and clinical interventions.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Andrews, J. M. (1978) Laterality and the tapping test among legal offenders. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 7, 149150.Google Scholar
Arthurs, R. G. S. & Cahoon, E. B. (1964) A clinical electroencephalographic survey of psychopathic personality. American Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 875882.Google Scholar
Barbour-McMullen, J., Coid, J. & Howard, R. C. (1988) The psychometric identification of psychopathy in mentally abnormal offenders. Personality and Individual Differences, 9, 817823.Google Scholar
Benson, D. F. & Blumer, D. (1975) Personality changes with frontal and temporal lobe lesions. In Psychiatric Aspects of Neurological Disease (eds. Benson, D. F. & Blumer, D.), pp. 151170. New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Blackburn, R. B. (1979) Cortical and autonomic arousal in primary and secondary psychopaths. Psychophysiology, 16, 143150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blackburn, R. B. (1982) The Special Hospital's Assessment of Personality and Socialisation. Unpublished manuscript, Park Lane Hospital, Liverpool.Google Scholar
Blackburn, R. B. (1988) On moral judgements and personality disorders: the myth of the psychopathic personality revisited. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 505512.Google Scholar
Bohman, M. (1978) Some genetic aspects of alcoholism and criminality. A population of adoptees. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 267276.Google Scholar
Bohman, M., Cloninger, R., Sigvardsson, S., et al (1982) Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees, genetic and environmental heterogeneity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 12331241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. L., Goodwin, F. K., Ballenger, J., et al (1979) Aggression in human correlates with cerebrospinal fluid amine metabolites. Psychiatric Research, 1, 131139.Google Scholar
Buchsbaum, M. S., Goodwin, F. K., Muscettola, G. (1981) Urinary MHPG, stress response, personality factors and somatosensory evoked potentials in normal subjects and patients with affective disorders. Neuropsychobiology, 7, 212224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. J. & Stewart, M. A. (1991) An adoption study of attention deficit/hyperactivity/aggression and their relationship to adult antisocial personality. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 32, 7382.Google Scholar
Cantwell, D. P. (1972) Psychiatric illness in the families of hyperactive children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 414417.Google Scholar
Christiansen, K. O. (1974) The genesis of aggressive criminality: implications of a study of crime in a Danish twin study. In Determinants and Origins of Aggressive Behaviour (eds. Dewit, J. & Hartup, W.), pp. 233253. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Cleckley, H. (1976) The Mask of Insanity (5th edn). St Louis: Mosby.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Guze, S. & Reich, T. (1975) The multifactorial model of disease transmission III. Familial relationships between sociopathy and hysteria. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 2332.Google Scholar
Coccaro, E. F., Siever, L. J., Klar, H. M., et al (1989) Serotonergic studies in patients with affective and personality disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 587599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crowe, R. R. (1974) An adoption study of antisocial personality. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 785791.Google Scholar
Devonshire, P. A., Howard, R. C., Sellars, C. (1988) Frontal lobe functions and personality in mentally abnormal offenders. Personality and Individual Differences, 9, 339344.Google Scholar
Ellingson, R. J. (1954) The incidence of EEG abnormality among patients with mental disorders of apparently non organic origin: A critical review. American Journal of Psychiatry, 3, 263275.Google Scholar
Elliot, F. A. (1978) Neurological aspects of antisocial behaviour. In The Psychopath: A Comprehensive Study of Antisocial Disorders and Behaviour (ed. Reid, W. H.), pp. 161189. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Fedora, O. & Fedora, D. (1983) Some neuropsychological and psychophysiological aspects of psychopathic and nonpsychopathic criminals. In Laterality and Psychopathology (eds Flor-Henry, P. & Gruzelier, J.), pp. 4179. New York: Elsevier Science.Google Scholar
Fenwick, P., Howard, R. & Fenton, G. (1983) Review of cortical excitability, neurohumoral transmission and the dyscontrol syndrome. In Advances in Epileptology: XIVth Epilepsy International Symposium (ed. Parsonnage, M.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Flor-Henry, P. (1985) Psychiatric aspects of cerebral lateralisation. Psychiatric Annals, 15, 429434.Google Scholar
Forth, A. & Hare, R. D. (1989) The contingent negative variation in psychopaths. Psychophysiology, 26, 676682.Google Scholar
Fowles, D. C. (1980) The three arousal model: implications of Gray's two factor learning theory for heart rate, electrodermal activity and psychopathy. Psychophysiology, 17, 87104.Google Scholar
Gibbens, T. C. N., Pond, D. A. & Stafford-Clark, D. (1959) A follow-up study of criminal psychopaths. Journal of Mental Science, 105, 108115.Google Scholar
Gorenstein, E. E. (1982) Frontal lobe function in psychopaths. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 583590.Google Scholar
Gorenstein, E. E. & Newman, J. P. (1980) Disinhibitory psychopaths—a new perspective and a model for research. Psychology Review, 87, 301315.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1978a) Psychopathy and electrodermal responses to nonsignal stimulation. Biological Psychology, 6, 237246.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1978b) Electrodermal and cardiovascular correlates of psychopathy. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds. Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1984) Performance of psychopaths on cognitive tasks related to frontal lobe function. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 133140.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. & Quinn, M. J. (1971) Psychopathy and autonomic conditioning. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77, 223235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, R. D. & Cox, D. N. (1978) Psychophysiological research on psychopathy. In The Psychopath: A Comprehensive Study of Antisocial Disorders and Behaviours (ed. Reid, W. H.), pp. 209222. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. & McPherson, L. (1984) Psychopathy and perceptual asymmetry during verbal dichotic listening. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 141149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, R. D. & Jutai, J. W. (1988) Psychopathy and cerebral asymmetry in semantic processing. Personality and Individual Differences, 9, 329337.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D., Harpur, T., Timothy, J., et al (1990) The revised psychopathy checklist: Reliability and factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 2, 338341.Google Scholar
Heilbrun, A. B. (1982) Cognitive models of criminality based on intelligence and psychopathy levels. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 546557.Google Scholar
Hill, D. (1963) The EEG in psychiatry. In Electroencephalography: A Symposium on its Various Aspects (eds Hill, J. D. & Parr, G.), pp. 368428. London: MacDonald.Google Scholar
Hill, J. D. & Waterson, D. (1942) EEG studies of psychopathic personalities. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 5, 4765.Google Scholar
Hoffman, J. J., Hall, R. W. & Bartsch, T. W. (1987) On the relative importance of “psychopathic” personality and alcoholism on neuropsychological measures of frontal-lobe dysfunction. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 158160.Google Scholar
Holland, T. R., Beckett, G. E. & Levy, M. (1981) Intelligence personality and criminal violence: A multivariate analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 106111.Google Scholar
Howard, R. C. (1984) The clinical EEG and personality in mentally abnormal offenders. Psychological Medicine, 14, 569580.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1986) Psychopathy: A psychobiological perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 795806.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D., Fenton, G. W. & Fenwick, P. B. (1982) Event Related Brain Potential in Personality and Psychopathy. A Pavlovian Approach. Herts: Wiley, Research Studies, Letchworth Press.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D., Fenton, G. W. & Fenwick, P. B. (1984) The contingent negative variation, personality and antisocial behaviour. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 463474.Google Scholar
Jutai, J. W. & Hare, R. D. (1983) Psychopathy and selective attention during performance of a complex perceptual-motor task. Psychophysiology, 20, 146151.Google Scholar
Jutai, J. W., Connolly, J. F. & Hare, R. D. (1983) Psychopathy and selective attention during performance of a complex perceptual-motor task. Psychophysiology, 20, 146151.Google Scholar
Jutai, J. W., Connolly, J. F. & Hare, R. D. (1987) Psychopathy and event related brain potentials (ERPs) associated with attention to speech stimuli. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 175184.Google Scholar
Kandel, E. & Freed, D. (1989) Frontal lobe dysfunction and antisocial behaviour: A review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 404413.Google Scholar
Kety, S. S., Rosenthal, D., Wender, P. H., et al (1976) Mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted individuals who have become schizophrenic. Behavior Genetics, 6, 219225.Google Scholar
Kiloh, L. & Osselton, J. (1966) Clinical Electroencephalography. Washington: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Kurland, H. D., Yaeger, C. T. & Arthur, R. J. (1963) Psychophysiological aspects of severe behaviour disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 8, 599604.Google Scholar
Levander, S. E., et al (1980) Skin conductance recovery time and personality in a group of criminals. Psychophysiology, 17, 105111.Google Scholar
Levenson, M. R. (1992) Rethinking psychopathy. Theory and Psychology, 2, 5171.Google Scholar
Lidberg, L., Levander, S., Schalling, D., et al (1978) Urinary catecholamines, stress, and psychopathy: A study of arrested men awaiting trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 40, 116125.Google Scholar
Lidberg, L., Modin, I., Oreland, L., et al (1985a) Platelet monoamine oxidase and psychopathy. Psychiatry Research, 16, 2227.Google Scholar
Lidberg, L., Tuck, M., Asberg, M. et al (1985b) Homicide, suicide and CSF 5HIAA. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 71, 230236.Google Scholar
Mawson, A. R. & Mawson, C. D. (1977) Psychopathy and arousal. A new interpretation of the psychophysiological literature. Biochemical Psychiatry, 12, 4974.Google Scholar
McCallum, W. C. (1973) The CNV and conditionability in psychopaths. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology (suppl.), 33, 337343.Google Scholar
McGuffin, P. & Gottesman, I. I. (1984) Genetic influences on normal and abnormal development. In Child Psychiatry: Modern Approaches (2nd edn) (eds. Rutter, M. & Hersov, L.), pp. 1733. London: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Mednick, S. A. & Hutchings, B. (1978) Genetic and psychophysiological factors in asocial behaviour. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.), pp. 239254. London: Wiley.Google Scholar
Miller, L. (1987) Neuropsychology of the aggressive psychopath. An integrated review. Aggressive Behaviour, 13, 119140.Google Scholar
Miller, L. (1988) Neuropsychological perspectives on delinquency. Behavioural Science and the Law, 6, 409428.Google Scholar
Monroe, R. R. (1978) The medical model in psychopathy and dyscontrol syndromes. In The Psychopath (ed. Reid, W. H.), pp. 190208. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Morrison, J. R. & Stewart, M. A. (1971) A family study of the hyperactive child syndrome. Biological Psychiatry, 3, 189195.Google ScholarPubMed
Ogloff, J. R. & Wong, S. (1990) Electrodermal and cardiovascular evidence of a coping response in psychopaths. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 17, 231245.Google Scholar
O'Keane, V., Moloney, E., O'Neill, H., et al (1992) Blunted prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine in sociopathy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 643646.Google Scholar
Pitcher, D. R. (1975) The XYY syndrome. In Comtemporary Psychiatry: Selected Reviews from the British Journal of Hospital Medicine (eds. Silverstone, T. & Barraclough, B.), pp. 316325. Kent, Ashford: Headley Brothers Ltd.Google Scholar
Prentice, N. N. & Kelly, F. J. (1963) Intelligence and delinquency: A reconsideration. Journal of Social Psychology, 60, 327337.Google Scholar
Prins, H. (1991) Is psychopathic disorder a useful clinical concept? A perspective from England and Wales. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 35, 119125.Google Scholar
Prinz, R. J., Conner, P. A. & Wilson, C. C. (1981) Hyperactive and aggressive behaviour in childhood: Intertwined dimensions. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 9, 191202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raine, A. (1986) Psychopathy, schizoid personality and borderline/schizotypal personality disorders. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 493501.Google Scholar
Raine, A. & Venables, P. H. (1988) Skin conductance responsivity in psychopaths to orienting, defensive, and consonant vowel stimuli. Journal of Psychophysiology, 2, 221225.Google Scholar
Raine, A., O'Brien, M., Smiley, N., et al (1990) Reduced lateralisation in verbal dichotic listening in adolescent psychopaths. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 272277.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N. (1978) Aetiological implications in studies of childhood histories relating to antisocial personality. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.), pp. 255271. London: Wiley.Google Scholar
Robinson, T. N. & Zhan, T. P. (1985) Psychoticism and arousal: Possible evidence for a linkage of P and psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 4766.Google Scholar
Satterfield, J. H. (1978) The hyperactive child syndrome: a precursor of adult psychopathy. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.), pp. 329346. London: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schalling, D. (1978) Psychopathy related personality variables and the psychophysiology of socialisation. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds. Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schalling, D., Asberg, M., Adman, G., et al (1987) Markers for vulnerability to psychopathology: Temperament traits associated with platelet MAO activity. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 76, 172182.Google Scholar
Schulsinger, F. (1982) Psychopathy, heredity and environment. International Journal of Mental Health, 1, 190206.Google Scholar
Stevens, D. A., Atkinson, M. W., Kay, D., et al (1975) Psychiatric morbidity in parents and sibs of schizophrenics and nonschizophrenics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 97108.Google Scholar
Syndulko, K. (1978) Electrocortical investigations of sociopathy. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.), pp. 145155. London: Wiley.Google Scholar
Valliant, P. M., Asu, M. E., Cooper, D., et al (1984) Profile of dangerous and nondangerous offenders referred for pre-trial psychiatric assessment. Psychological Reports, 54, 411418.Google Scholar
Van Woerkom, T. C. A., Teelken, A. W. & Minderhoud, J. M. (1977) Differences in neurotransmitter metabolism in frontotemporal-lobe contusion and diffuse cerebral contusion. Lancet, i, 812813.Google Scholar
Virkkunen, M. (1986) Reactive hypoglycaemic tendency among habitually violent offenders. Nutrition Reviews/Supplement, May.Google Scholar
Virkkunen, M., Nuutila, A., Goodwin, F. K., et al (1987) Cerebrospinal fluid metabolite levels in male arsonists. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 241247.Google Scholar
Volkow, N. D. & Trancredi, L. (1987) Neural substrates of violent behaviour. A preliminary study with positron emission tomography. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 668673.Google Scholar
Weller, M. A. (1986) Medical concepts in psychopathy and violence. Medicine, Science and the Law, 26, 131143.Google Scholar
Wender, P. H., Reimherr, F. W. & Wood, D. R. (1981) Attention deficit disorder (minimal brain dysfunction) in adults. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 449456.Google Scholar
Williams, D. (1969) Neural factors related to habitual aggression. Brain Research, 92, 503520.Google Scholar
Wood, C. C., McCarthy, G., Squires, N. K., et al (1984) Anatomical and physiological substrates of event-related potentials. In Brain and Information: Event-related Potentials. Vol. 425 (eds Karrer, R., Cohen, J. & Tueting, P.), pp. 681721. New York: Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Woods, B. T. & Eby, M. O. (1982) Excessive mirror movements and aggression. Biological Psychiatry, 17, 2332.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992) The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Yeudall, L. T. (1977) Neuropsychological assessment of forensic disorders. Canadian Mental Health, 25, 715.Google Scholar
Yeudall, L. T., Fromm-Auch, D., Davies, P. (1982) Neuropsychological impairments of persistent delinquency. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 257265.Google Scholar
Ziskind, E. (1978) The diagnosis of sociopathy. In Psychopathic Behaviour. Approaches to Research (eds Hare, R. D. & Schalling, D.), pp. 4754. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.