Attention network performance and psychopathic symptoms in early adolescence: an ERP study

The effect and efficiency of attentional networks and the brain electrophysiology

The attention networks test (ANT) is frequently utilized to evaluate executive, alerting, and orienting attentional components. Additionally, it serves as an activation task in neuroimaging studies. This study aimed to examine the relationship between attention networks and brain electrophysiology. The study enrolled 40 right-handed male students (age = 20.8 ± 1.3 years) who underwent the revised attention network test, while their electroencephalogram signals were recorded. The study aimed to explore the effects of attention networks and their efficiencies on brain electrophysiology. The results indicated that the P3 amplitude was modulated by the conflict effect in the central (p-value = 0.014) and parietal (p-value = 0.002) regions. The orienting component significantly influenced P1 and N1 latencies in the parietal and parieto-occipital regions (p-values < 0.006), as well as P1 and N1 amplitude in the parieto-occipital region (p-values = 0.017 and 0.011). The alerting component significantly affected P1 latency and amplitude in the parietal and parieto-occipital regions, respectively (p-value = 0.02). Furthermore, N1 amplitude and the time interval between P1 and N1 were significantly correlated with the efficiency of alerting and orienting networks. In terms of connectivity, the coherence of theta and alpha bands significantly decreased in the incongruent condition compared to the congruent condition. Additionally, the effects of attention networks on event-related spectral perturbation were observed. The study revealed the influence of attention networks on various aspects of brain electrophysiology. Specifically, the alerting score correlated with the amplitude of the N1 component in the double-cue and no-cue conditions in the parieto-occipital region, while the orienting score in the same region correlated with the N1 amplitude in the valid cue condition and the difference in N1 amplitude between the valid cue and double-cue conditions. Overall, empirical evidence suggests that attention networks not only impact the amplitudes of electrophysiological activities but also influence their time course.

The importance of an exaggerated attention bottleneck for understanding psychopathy

The psychopath has long captured the imagination. A name such as Ted Bundy evokes a morbid curiosity. The crimes committed by Bundy are so cruel that it is hard to imagine how someone could do such things. In this review we discuss evidence that exaggeration in an attention bottleneck is one mechanism that makes it possible for psychopathic individuals to be adept at focusing on a single stimulus feature or goal but struggle to process multiple streams of information simultaneously. This exaggeration may partly explain the behavioral, affective, and social deficits that are apparent among psychopathic individuals. Further research on this attentional mechanism may promote a science that adequately captures the complexity of psychopathic behavior and offers new avenues for intervention.

Resting-state network topology characterizing callous-unemotional traits in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a youth antisocial phenotype, are hypothesized to associate with aberrant connectivity (dis-integration) across the salience (SAL), default mode (DMN), and frontoparietal (FPN) networks. However, CU traits have a heterogeneous presentation and previous research has not modeled individual heterogeneity in resting-state connectivity amongst adolescents with CU traits. The present study models individual-specific network maps and examines topological features of individual and subgroup maps in relation to CU traits.

METHODS

Participants aged 13-17 (n = 84, male = 55%, female = 45%) completed resting-state functional connectivity and the inventory of callous-unemotional traits as part of the Nathan Klein Rockland study. A sparse network approach (GIMME) was used to derive individual-level and subgroup maps of all participants. We then examined heterogeneous network features, including positive and negative connection density, associated with CU traits.

RESULTS

Higher rates of CU traits increased probability of inclusion in one subgroup, which had the highest mean level of CU traits. Analysis of network features reveals less density (positive and negative) within the FPN and greater density between DMN-FPN associated with CU traits.

DISCUSSION

Findings indicate heterogeneous person-specific connections and some subgroup connections amongst adolescents associate with CU traits. Higher CU traits associate with lower density in the FPN, which has been associated with attention and inhibition, and higher density between the DMN-FPN, which have been linked with cognitive control, social working memory, and empathy. Our findings suggest less efficiency in FPN function which, when considered mechanistically, could result in difficulty suppressing DMN when task positive networks are engaged. This is an area for further exploration but could explain cognitive and socio-affective impairments in CU traits.

Rapid attentional adaptations due to language (monolingual vs bilingual) context

Does our general attentional system adapt to the language context we are in? Bilinguals switch between contexts in which only one language is present or both languages are equiprobable. Previous research by Wu and Thierry (2013) suggested that the bilingual language context can modify the workings of inhibitory control mechanisms. Here we investigate whether this can be replicated and whether other attentional mechanisms (alerting and orienting) also adjust depending on whether we are in a bilingual or a monolingual situation. Bilinguals performed the Attentional Network Task (ANT) task, which allows us to measure three types of attentional processes: alerting, orienting and executive control. Crucially, while performing the ANT task, participants also saw words presented in only one language (e.g., Catalan; monolingual context) or in two languages (Catalan and Spanish; bilingual context); this allowed us to assess whether the three attentional processes would be modified by language context. Compared to the monolingual context, in the bilingual context the target-P3 amplitude was enhanced for the alerting and executive control networks but not for the orienting network. This suggests that bilinguals' state of alertness was enhanced when surrounded by words from two languages. Exploratory analyses reveal that within the bilingual context, language switches have an alerting effect, as indexed by a greater target-N1, thus impacting upcoming visual processing of the flanker. Response hand activation is speeded up for congruent trials in a similar way that arbitrary alerting cues speed them up. This speed-up was reflected in a greater LRP in the bilingual context, but it was not reflected in behavioral measures (RTs or ACC). Thus, a bilingual context can enhance attentional capacity towards non-linguistic information. It also reveals how flexible the cognitive system is.

Dissociable Effects of Psychopathic Traits on Executive Functioning: Insights From the Triarchic Model

The relationship between executive functioning and psychopathy lacks consistent findings. The heterogeneity of the psychopathic personality structure may contribute to the mixed data that emerged from clinical-categorical approaches. Considering the link between antisocial behavior and executive dysfunction from the perspective of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy, it is suggested that executive impairments in psychopathy are specifically explained by meanness and disinhibition traits, reflecting externalizing vulnerability. In turn, boldness is conceptualized as an adaptive trait. The current study assessed updating (N-back), inhibition (Stroop), and shifting (Trail Making Test) in a forensic (n = 56) and non-forensic sample (n = 48) that completed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. A positive association between boldness and inhibition was found, while meanness accounted for the lack of inhibitory control. In addition, disinhibition explained updating dysfunction. These findings provide empirical evidence for dissociable effects of psychopathic traits on executive functioning, in light of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy.

Research Review: What do we know about psychopathic traits in children?

BACKGROUND

Research on the topic of child psychopathy has advanced over the past decade increasing what we know.

METHOD

This qualitative review examines the research base for child psychopathy and emphasizes its three dimensions: grandiose-manipulative, callous-unemotional, and daring-impulsive. Literature is reviewed addressing the cognitive, emotional, motivational, personality, parenting, and biological correlates.

RESULTS

Support has emerged for the phenotypic construct of child psychopathy, while questions remain regarding definitional issues and key external correlates (e.g., reward and punishment processing, parenting, molecular genetics, brain imaging).

CONCLUSIONS

While the construct appears to be valid, future work should broaden its focus from callous unemotional traits to all three dimensions of the construct, enhance measurement precision, and examine dimension interactions. Such research could have important implications for CD specification for future versions of the DSM and ICD and speed etiological knowledge and clinical care for youth with conduct problems.

Callous-unemotional traits moderate executive function in children with ASD and ADHD: A pilot event-related potential study

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Children with ASD and ADHD show varied and heterogeneous executive function (EF) profiles.

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Typical or enhanced EF has been demonstrated in individuals with callous-unemotional (CU) traits.

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We investigated the effect of CU traits on event-related potential (ERP) responses during a cued continuous performance test (CPT-OX) in children with ASD, ADHD and co-occurring ASD + ADHD.

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Children with ASD and high CU traits showed better conflict monitoring compared to children with ASD and low CU traits.

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Increased CU traits may be associated with cognitive strengths in children with ASD.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with varied executive function (EF) difficulties. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a proposed antecedent of adult psychopathy, are often associated with intact or enhanced EF. Here we test whether CU traits may therefore modulate EF in ASD and ADHD, in which EF is typically impaired. We collected CU traits and measured event-related potentials (ERPs) that index EF during a cued-continuous performance test (CPT-OX) in boys with ASD, ADHD, comorbid ASD + ADHD and typical controls. We examined attentional orienting at cues (Cue-P3), inhibitory processing at non-targets (NoGo-P3) and conflict monitoring between target and non-target trials (Go-N2 vs. NoGo-N2). In children with ASD, higher CU traits were associated with an enhanced increase in N2 amplitude in NoGo trials compared to Go trials, which suggests relatively superior conflict monitoring and a potential cognitive strength associated with CU traits. The results emphasise the importance of considering the effects of co-occurring traits in the assessment of heterogeneity of EF profiles in neurodevelopmental disorders.

From neuro-pigments to neural efficiency: The relationship between retinal carotenoids and behavioral and neuroelectric indices of cognitive control in childhood

Lutein and zeaxanthin are plant pigments known to preferentially accumulate in neural tissue. Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD), a non-invasive measure of retinal carotenoids and surrogate measure of brain carotenoid concentration, has been associated with disease prevention and cognitive health. Superior MPOD status in later adulthood has been shown to provide neuroprotective effects on cognition. Given that childhood signifies a critical period for carotenoid accumulation in brain, it is likely that the beneficial impact would be evident during development, though this relationship has not been directly investigated. The present study investigated the relationship between MPOD and the behavioral and neuroelectric indices elicited during a cognitive control task in preadolescent children. 49 participants completed a modified flanker task while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to assess the P3 component of the ERP waveform. MPOD was associated with both behavioral performance and P3 amplitude such that children with higher MPOD had more accurate performance and lower P3 amplitudes. These relationships were more pronounced for trials requiring greater amounts of cognitive control. These results indicate that children with higher MPOD may respond to cognitive tasks more efficiently, maintaining high performance while displaying neural indices indicative of lower cognitive load. These findings provide novel support for the neuroprotective influence of retinal carotenoids during preadolescence.

Dysfunctional personality traits in adolescence: effects on alerting, orienting and executive control of attention

The present study examined attentional networks performance in 39 adolescents with dysfunctional personality traits, split into two group, Group < 10 and Group ≥ 10, according to the number of criteria they met at the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. The attentional performance has been tested by means of a modified version of the Attentional Network Test (ANTI-V) which allows testing both phasic and tonic components of the alerting system, the exogenous aspect of the orienting system, the executive network and their interactions. Results showed that the orienting costs of having an invalid spatial cue were reduced in the Group ≥ 10 criteria compared to the Group < 10. Moreover, adolescents included in the Group ≥ 10 showed lower conflict when attention was cued to the target location (valid trials) but showed normal interference when there was no overpowering focus of attention (invalid trials). The results found with ANOVA after splitting the sample into two categorical groups were also observed in a complementary correlation analysis keeping intact the continuous nature of such variables. These findings are consistent with the notion that dysfunctional features of personality disorders may represent the psychological manifestations of a neuropsychological abnormality in attention and executive functioning. Finally, we discuss the implications of this attentional anomaly for dysfunctional personality traits and behaviour.

Dissociable relations between amygdala subregional networks and psychopathy trait dimensions in conduct-disordered juvenile offenders

Psychopathy is a serious psychiatric phenomenon characterized by a pathological constellation of affective (e.g., callous, unemotional), interpersonal (e.g., manipulative, egocentric), and behavioral (e.g., impulsive, irresponsible) personality traits. Though amygdala subregional defects are suggested in psychopathy, the functionality and connectivity of different amygdala subnuclei is typically disregarded in neurocircuit-level analyses of psychopathic personality. Hence, little is known of how amygdala subregional networks may contribute to psychopathy and its underlying trait assemblies in severely antisocial people. We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral (BLA) and centromedial (CMA) amygdala networks in relation to affective, interpersonal, and behavioral traits of psychopathy, in conduct-disordered juveniles with a history of serious delinquency (N = 50, mean age = 16.83 ± 1.32). As predicted, amygdalar connectivity profiles exhibited dissociable relations with different traits of psychopathy. Interpersonal psychopathic traits not only related to increased connectivity of BLA and CMA with a corticostriatal network formation accommodating reward processing, but also predicted stronger CMA connectivity with a network of cortical midline structures supporting sociocognitive processes. In contrast, affective psychopathic traits related to diminished CMA connectivity with a frontolimbic network serving salience processing and affective responding. Finally, behavioral psychopathic traits related to heightened BLA connectivity with a frontoparietal cluster implicated in regulatory executive functioning. We suggest that these trait-specific shifts in amygdalar connectivity could be particularly relevant to the psychopathic phenotype, as they may fuel a self-centered, emotionally cold, and behaviorally disinhibited profile. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4017-4033, 2016. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Relation of frontal N100 to psychopathy-related differences in selective attention

Research indicates that psychopathy may be characterized by early attentional abnormalities that undermine the processing of peripheral information during goal-directed activity (Baskin-Sommers & Newman, 2012). Past work has found that psychopathic individuals show reduced interference on the Box Stroop task, in which color names are spatially separated from (i.e., peripheral to) colored stimuli (Hiatt, Schmitt, & Newman, 2004). The present study sought to replicate and extend these findings. A priori predictions were that psychopathy scores would be inversely related to interference and that psychopathy-related differences in Box Stroop conflict processing would emerge at an early stage as measured by event-related potentials (ERP). Results supported both hypotheses. Moreover, the association between the early attention-related component (N100) and interference was moderated by level of psychopathy. These findings suggest that psychopathic individuals have less coordinated responses to conflict than healthy individuals, a conjecture that has implications for information integration and self-regulation.

Feature-based attention and conflict monitoring in criminal offenders: interactive relations of psychopathy with anxiety and externalizing

As predicted by the response modulation model, psychopathic offenders are insensitive to potentially important inhibitory information when it is peripheral to their primary focus of attention. To date, the clearest tests of this hypothesis have manipulated spatial attention to cue the location of goal-relevant versus inhibitory information. However, the theory predicts a more general abnormality in selective attention. In the current study, male prisoners performed a conflict-monitoring task, which included a feature-based manipulation (i.e., color) that biased selective attention toward goal-relevant stimuli and away from inhibitory distracters on some trials but not others. Paralleling results for spatial cuing, feature-based cuing resulted in less distracter interference, particularly for participants with primary psychopathy (i.e., low anxiety). This study also investigated the moderating effect of externalizing on psychopathy. Participants high in psychopathy but low in externalizing performed similarly to primary psychopathic individuals. These results demonstrate that the abnormal selective attention associated with primary psychopathy is not limited to spatial attention but, instead, applies to diverse methods for establishing attentional focus. Furthermore, they demonstrate a novel method of investigating psychopathic subtypes using continuous analyses.

No clear evidence for a positive association between the interpersonal-affective aspects of psychopathy and executive functioning

Common psychopathy rating instruments distinguish between an interpersonal-affective and an antisocial dimension. The suggestion that the interpersonal-affective dimension, often considered to be the core feature of psychopathy, is positively associated with executive functioning is occasionally made in the literature, without reporting objective empirical data. The primary aim of the present paper was to search for empirical studies reporting relevant data, focussing on four aspects of 'cold' executive functioning: inhibition, attentional shifting, working memory, and planning. Eleven published articles were identified, reporting data of 721 individuals from incarcerated and non-incarcerated, male and female, and adult and non-adult samples. Using a heterogeneous set of tests and dependent measures across studies, the inhibition and attentional shifting components were assessed in eight and five studies, respectively; the working memory and planning components each in two studies. A small majority of the studies found positive associations with the different executive functions, although the associations were mostly non-significant. Given the scarcity of studies and the use of heterogeneous populations, tests and statistical analyses, no robust conclusions can be drawn at this stage. Therefore, caution is needed when claiming a positive association between the interpersonal-affective features of psychopathy and executive functioning. Clearly more research is needed to further validate and specify the suggested association.

Disordered Attention: Implications for Understanding and Treating Internalizing and Externalizing Disorders in Childhood

In this article, we present evidence that disorders of attention are present in wide range of psychological disorders, and that the appropriate assessment and treatment of these attention difficulties can be an important adjunct to traditional therapeutic approaches. We review approaches to attention training in some detail and discuss how attention-focused treatment might be implemented in clinical practice.