[The relationship between right hemi-space visuospatial attention disturbance and anger in antisocial individuals]. / Antisosyal bireylerde sag yari uzaya iliskin görsel dikkat bozukluguyla öfkenin iliskisi.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence suggests that individuals with antisocial personality disorder (APD) exhibit a less asymmetric pattern than healthy controls during auditory and visuospatial attention tasks characterized by a right hemispheric advantage; however, the association between attention asymmetry and symptomatology is not clear. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between visuospatial attention in the right and left hemi-spaces, and various dimensions of anger in individuals with APD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared visuospatial attention performance in the right and left hemi-spaces during a computerized Line Bisection Test (LBT) in individuals with APD (n = 52) and healthy controls (n = 34). We also administered the Multi-Dimensional Anger Scale (MDAS) to both groups. RESULTS: Subjects in the APD group made larger bisection errors than healthy controls only during the right hemi-space condition and had higher scores than those in the control group on all MDAS dimensions of anger. The severity of anger symptoms and thoughts were predicted by right hemi-space visuospatial attention disturbance in the APD group, whereas no such association was observed in the control group. CONCLUSION: The present findings either suggest a left hemisphere neuropathology or a disturbance in inter-hemispheric transmission in the APD group. Right hemi-space-specific visual attention disturbance may mediate the relationship between neuropathology, and somatic and trait dimensions of anger in APD.

Total exposure duration and proximity of cessation of cannabis use predict severity of sub-clinical psychotic symptoms among former users.

In a non-clinical military enrolment setting, former cannabis users (N=81), compared to substance-naïve controls (N=132), endorsed markedly elevated rates of schizotypy subscale scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Total duration of exposure and proximity of cessation of cannabis use also had an important impact on the severity of psychosis-like symptoms.