Viding Essi, McCrory Eamon
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK; Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK.
Lancet Psychiatry. 2019 May;6(5):437-444. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30049-5.
One distinctive feature of individuals with psychopathy is their reduced motivation and capacity to develop authentic social relationships, which are founded on an enjoyment of prosocial interactions or concern for others. Surprisingly, potential neurocognitive vulnerabilities contributing to atypical social affiliation, and lack of prosocial behaviours in psychopathy, have yet to be systematically investigated. Research efforts have largely focused on how individuals with psychopathy process negative emotions, and how this might affect their capacity to feel guilt or empathise with others' distress. Here, we propose a framework for understanding the development of atypical social affiliation and attachment in psychopathy, and outline several key processes and neural systems speculated to underpin them. We then describe present neurocognitive findings that suggest that these processes and neural systems are compromised in individuals with, or at risk of developing, psychopathy. Finally, we consider several research directions that would help with the understanding of the origin and development of social affiliation in individuals with psychopathy. This work has the potential to inform and enhance prevention and treatment strategies.
患有精神病态的个体的一个显著特征是他们发展真实社会关系的动机和能力降低，而真实的社会关系建立在对亲社会互动的享受或对他人的关心之上。令人惊讶的是，导致非典型社会依恋以及精神病态中缺乏亲社会行为的潜在神经认知脆弱性尚未得到系统研究。研究工作主要集中在患有精神病态的个体如何处理负面情绪，以及这可能如何影响他们感到内疚或对他人痛苦产生共情的能力。在此，我们提出一个框架来理解精神病态中非典型社会依恋和情感联系的发展，并概述几个推测为其基础的关键过程和神经系统。然后，我们描述了目前的神经认知研究结果，这些结果表明这些过程和神经系统在患有精神病态或有患精神病态风险的个体中受到损害。最后，我们考虑几个有助于理解患有精神病态的个体中社会依恋的起源和发展的研究方向。这项工作有可能为预防和治疗策略提供信息并加以改进。
