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Title:
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Breakdown in the brain network subserving moral judgment in criminal psychopathy
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Author:
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Pujol Salud, Jesús; Batalla, Iolanda; Contreras-Rodríguez, Oren; Harrison, Ben J.; Pera Guardiola, Vanessa; Hernández-Ribas, Rosa; Real, Eva; Bosa, Laura; Soriano-Mas, Carles; Deus Yela, Juan; López-Solà, Marina; Pifarré Paredero, Josep; Menchón, José M.; Cardoner, N. (Narcís)
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Notes:
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Neuroimaging research has demonstrated the involvement of a well-defined brain network in the mediation of moral judgment in
normal population, and has suggested the inappropriate network use in criminal psychopathy. We used functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) to prove that alterations in the brain network subserving moral judgment in criminal psychopaths are
not limited to the inadequate network use during moral judgment, but that a primary network breakdown would exist with
dysfunctional alterations outside moral dilemma situations. A total of 22 criminal psychopathic men and 22 control subjects
were assessed and fMRI maps were generated to identify (i) brain response to moral dilemmas, (ii) task-induced deactivation of
the network during a conventional cognitive task and (iii) the strength of functional connectivity within the network during
resting-state. The obtained functional brain maps indeed confirmed that the network subserving moral judgment is underactive in
psychopathic individuals during moral dilemma situations, but the data also provided evidence of a baseline network alteration
outside moral contexts with a functional disconnection between emotional and cognitive elements that jointly construct moral
judgment. The finding may have significant social implications if considering psychopathic behavior to be a result of a primary
breakdown in basic brain systems.
This work was supported in part by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias de la Seguridad Social (Grants PI050884 and PI0011006); the Departament de Justícia de la Generalitat de Catalunya; National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Clinical Career Development Award (I.D. 628509 to B.J.H.); ‘Miguel Servet’ contract from the Carlos III Health Institute, Spain (to C.S-M.) |
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Subject(s):
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-Functional magnetic
-Resonance imaging (fMRI)
-Psychopathy |
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Rights:
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(c) Oxford University Press, 2012
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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Document type:
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article
publishedVersion |
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Published by:
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Oxford University Press
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