University of Regensburg, Germany.
Biol Psychol. 2013 Oct;94(2):310-8. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.07.007. Epub 2013 Jul 26.
Studies that investigate the differences between high and low psychopathic persons in brain activity during emotional facial expression processing are rare and commonly focus on males. The current study assessed whether previously reported behavioral differences would be reflected in differential brain activity in a sample of female offenders. The participants included 23 female forensic inpatients with high and low scores on the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). ERPs were recorded during presentation of emotional facial expressions (i.e., fear, angry, and happy). Results revealed no differences in N170, P3 and late positive potential components between groups, but a significant difference in N2 only for angry and fear facial expressions, with high psychopathic participants showing lower reactivity. This N2 effect was found to be related to Factor 2 but not Factor 1 of the PCL-R. In time frequency analysis, theta activity underlying N2 best reflected these differences. Findings in this female sample are consistent with a cortical deficit in processing facial expression of negative emotions in psychopathic men. In addition, differences in processing seem to appear relatively early.
研究人员很少调查高、低精神病态个体在情绪面部表情处理过程中的大脑活动差异，且此类研究通常集中于男性。本研究旨在评估女性罪犯样本中，先前报告的行为差异是否反映在大脑活动的差异上。参与者包括 23 名女性法医住院患者，她们在精神病态检查表修订版（PCL-R）上的得分高低不同。在呈现情绪面部表情（即恐惧、愤怒和高兴）时记录 ERP。结果表明，两组在 N170、P3 和晚期正性电位成分上没有差异，但在愤怒和恐惧面部表情上 N2 存在显著差异，高精神病态组的反应性较低。这种 N2 效应与 PCL-R 的因子 2 而非因子 1 有关。在时频分析中，N2 下的θ活动最好地反映了这些差异。在女性样本中的发现与男性精神病态者处理负性情绪面部表情的皮质缺陷一致。此外，似乎在处理上的差异出现得相对较早。
