Neurobiological findings of the psychopathic personality in adults: One century of history

The objectives, sample (age, percentage of male, type of sample), country of origin of the studies, language, design, instruments, and results and main conclusions were extracted from each study. Overall, the results reinforce the idea that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormalities in the way the brain processes environmental emotional information, and that the fundamental cognitive properties related to attention maintain or worsen these abnormalities. In some cases, changes in attention explain, by themselves, the abnormalities in emotional processing. Future studies using neurophysiological paradigms would be a great asset to help differentiate, at a neurocognitive level, the personality structures characterized by pronounced antisocial behavior, in order to improve the understanding of their heterogeneous etiologies.
Source: Aggression and Violent Behavior - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research