Callous-unemotional traits and neural responses to emotional faces in a community sample of young adults

Former studies suggest that the core features of psychopathy, namely the callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with emotional dysfunction characterized by atypical processing of other people's distress. Using a dimensional approach to CU traits, the current study aims to test neural ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality and individual differences 2017-06, Vol.111, p.312-317
Main Authors: Szabó, Edina, Kocsel, Natália, Édes, Andrea, Pap, Dorottya, Galambos, Attila, Zsombók, Terézia, Szabó, Ádám, Kozák, Lajos Rudolf, Bagdy, György, Juhász, Gabriella, Kökönyei, Gyöngyi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACC
Antisocial personality disorder
Blood
Community sample
CU traits
Dimensional approach
Emotion recognition
Emotions
Face
Face processing
Facial expressions
Fear & phobias
fMRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Neurology
Personality traits
Psychological distress
Young adults
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Summary:Former studies suggest that the core features of psychopathy, namely the callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with emotional dysfunction characterized by atypical processing of other people's distress. Using a dimensional approach to CU traits, the current study aims to test neural activity during performance of a facial expression recognition task in a community sample of young adults. Forty-one participants (25 females, M age=25.44, SD=4.03) completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected to measure neural responses to fearful, happy and sad faces as compared with neutral facial expressions. Region-of-interest analyses revealed that during exposure to fearful face expressions, blood oxygenation level-dependent responses were negatively associated with CU traits in the right anterior cingulate gyrus (ACCg), but not in the amygdala. These findings support that CU traits are related to a unique neural response to fearful faces in noncriminal population as well. It also highlights the importance of taking into account other regions outside the amygdala, in particular the ACC, when testing the relation between CU traits and fear response. •The link between CU traits and neural responses to facial expressions was examined.•ROI analyses were used to study amygdala and ACC activity in young adults.•CU traits were associated with reduced right ACC gyrus activity to fearful faces.•Results point to unique neural response in noncriminal individuals as well.
ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.026