TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxytocin normalizes the implicit processing of fearful faces in psychopathy
T2 - a randomized crossover study using fMRI
AU - Tully, John
AU - Sethi, Arjun
AU - Griem, Julia
AU - Paloyelis, Yannis
AU - Craig, Michael C.
AU - Williams, Steven C.R.
AU - Murphy, Declan
AU - Blair, Robert James
AU - Blackwood, Nigel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/5/25
Y1 - 2023/5/25
N2 - Adults with antisocial personality disorder with (ASPD + P) and without (ASPD – P) psychopathy commit the majority of violent crimes. Empathic processing abnormalities are particularly prominent in psychopathy, but effective pharmacological interventions have yet to be identified. Oxytocin modulates neural responses to fearful expressions in healthy populations. The current study investigates its effects in violent antisocial men. In a placebo-controlled, randomized crossover design, 34 violent offenders (19 ASPD + P; 15 ASPD – P) and 24 healthy non-offenders received 40 IU intranasal oxytocin or placebo and then completed an fMRI morphed faces task examining the implicit processing of fearful facial expressions. Increasing intensity of fearful facial expressions failed to appropriately modulate activity in the bilateral mid-cingulate cortex in violent offenders with ASPD + P, compared with those with ASPD – P. Oxytocin abolished these group differences. This represents evidence of neurochemical modulation of the empathic processing of others’ distress in psychopathy.
AB - Adults with antisocial personality disorder with (ASPD + P) and without (ASPD – P) psychopathy commit the majority of violent crimes. Empathic processing abnormalities are particularly prominent in psychopathy, but effective pharmacological interventions have yet to be identified. Oxytocin modulates neural responses to fearful expressions in healthy populations. The current study investigates its effects in violent antisocial men. In a placebo-controlled, randomized crossover design, 34 violent offenders (19 ASPD + P; 15 ASPD – P) and 24 healthy non-offenders received 40 IU intranasal oxytocin or placebo and then completed an fMRI morphed faces task examining the implicit processing of fearful facial expressions. Increasing intensity of fearful facial expressions failed to appropriately modulate activity in the bilateral mid-cingulate cortex in violent offenders with ASPD + P, compared with those with ASPD – P. Oxytocin abolished these group differences. This represents evidence of neurochemical modulation of the empathic processing of others’ distress in psychopathy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176333311&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s44220-023-00067-3
DO - 10.1038/s44220-023-00067-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85176333311
SN - 2731-6076
VL - 1
SP - 420
EP - 427
JO - Nature Mental Health
JF - Nature Mental Health
IS - 6
ER -