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Neuroimaging findings in disruptive behavior disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2015

Rosalind H. Baker ,
Roberta L. Clanton ,
Jack C. Rogers  and
Stéphane A. De Brito
Rosalind H. Baker
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Roberta L. Clanton
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Jack C. Rogers
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Stéphane A. De Brito*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Stéphane De Brito, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. (Email: s.a.debrito@bham.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Decades of research have shown that youths with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) are a heterogeneous population. Over the past 20 years, researchers have distinguished youths with DBD as those displaying high (DBD/HCU) versus low (DBD/LCU) callous-unemotional (CU) traits. These traits include flat affect and reduced empathy and remorse, and are associated with more severe, varied, and persistent patterns of antisocial behavior and aggression. Conduct problems in youths with HCU and LCU are thought to reflect distinct causal vulnerabilities, with antisocial behavior in youths with DBD/HCU reflecting a predominantly genetic etiology, while antisocial behavior in youths with DBD/LCU is associated primarily with environmental influences. Here we selectively review recent functional (fMRI) and structural (sMRI) magnetic resonance imaging research on DBD, focusing particularly on the role of CU traits. First, fMRI studies examining the neural correlates of affective stimuli, emotional face processing, empathy, theory of mind, morality, and decision-making in DBD are discussed. This is followed by a review of the studies investigating brain structure and structural connectivity in DBD. Next, we highlight the need to further investigate females and the role of sex differences in this population. We conclude the review by identifying potential clinical implications of this research.

Keywords

Antisocial behaviorcallous-unemotional traitsconduct disorderconduct problemsdisruptive behavior disorderssex differencesfMRIvoxel-based morphometrysurface-based morphometrydiffusion tensor imaging

Information

Type
Review Articles
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 20 , Special Issue 4: Pediatric Neuroimaging , August 2015 , pp. 369 - 381
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

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Footnotes

**

Rosalind H. Baker and Roberta L. Clanton contributed equally to this work.

*

Rosalind Baker, Jack Rogers, and Stéphane De Brito are supported by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement no. 602407 (FemNAT-CD) (http://ec.europa.eu). Roberta Clanton is supported by a Ph.D. studentship from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham. Stéphane A. De Brito was supported by a research fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF PA00P1_139586). We thank Dr. Graeme Fairchild for his comments on a previous version of the manuscript.

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