Brain structure analysis for patients with antisocial personality disorder by MRI / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the structural abnormalities of brain in patients with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) but without alcoholism and drug abuse.@*METHODS@#Volunteers from Hunan Reformatory (n=36) and the matched healthy subjects (n=26) were examined by high-spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Voxel-based morphometry and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were generated for each subject to reveal structural abnormalities in patients with ASPD.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the healthy controls, ASPD patients showed significantly higher gray matter volumes in the inferior parietal lobule (P≤0.001, uncorrected), white matter volumes in the precuneus (P≤0.001, uncorrected), FA in the left lingual gyrus, bilateral precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus and right middle temporal gyrus (P≤0.01, uncorrected).@*CONCLUSION@#Our results revealed the abnormal neuroanatomical features in ASPD patients, which might be related to the external behavioral traits in ASPD patients.

Pathological mechanisms of chronic insomnia: Evidence from neuro-electrophysiology and neuroimaging research / 中南大学学报(医学版)

As a widely recognized public health problem as well as prevalent and challenging to modern society, chronic insomnia is involved in wide brain areas (such as prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus) and emotion-cognition neuro-circuit. It is closely related to the conditioned hyperarousal and the increased information process and/or the impaired inhibitory ability to withdraw from awaking state. Thus, some specific abnormal mode may exist in the emotion-cognition circuit, which is associated with abnormal cognition load, such as repeated retrieval/intrusion of aversive memories during night. Studies through the combination of multiple techniques including psychology, electrophysiology and neuroimaging methods are needed to further enhance the understanding of chronic insomnia.

Functional MRI analysis of deception among people with antisocial personality disorders / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of deception in antisocial personality disorders (ASPD).@*METHODS@#A total of 32 criminals meeting the criteria for ASPD underwent fMRI at 1.5T while responding truthfully questions or lying. We compared the brain activities between truth-telling and lie-telling, and then computed the correlation coefficient between the contrast brain activities and the inclination to deception.@*RESULTS@#The left anterior cingulate gyrus, the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and left inferior parietal lobule were associated with the executive aspects of deception among people with ASPD. But with the greater inclination to deception, the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activities in those regions decreased.@*CONCLUSION@#Evaluations of truthful and untruthful communications pertaining to ASPD subjects may be differentiated in terms of brain BOLD activities, though those activities may decrease in habitual liars, which remains a challenge to the diagnostic accuracy in lie detection.