The left hemisphere activation hypothesis proposes that criminal psychopaths are characterized by inefficient cognition under conditions that activate left hemisphere-specific processing resources. This hypothesis appears consistent with several recent studies of psychopaths' language processing and divided attention performance. It also has novel applications for explaining and treating psychopaths' impulsive antisocial behavior. The current proposal is designed to examine whether the left hemisphere activation hypothesis can account for criminal psychopaths' documented deficits in selective attention and emotional processing. Based on evidence that left hemisphere resources mediate processing of local stimulus features, language stimuli, and states of appetitive motivation, left hemisphere activation inductions have been developed that make it possible to evaluate the adequacy of the left hemisphere activation hypothesis relative to other promising hypothesis for psychopaths' performance deficits. Findings consistent with the left hemisphere activation hypothesis will warrant reinterpretation of several of psychopaths' deficits in attention and emotional processing as apparent consequence of a single underlying dysfunction associated with the dynamic process of activation of left hemisphere processing resources. Two studies also attempt to replicate previous left hemisphere activation deficits with additional controls to rule out methodological explanations of these findings. Supplementary goals include examination of the specific dimensions of psychopathy that predict information-processing deficits, of the generality of these deficits across race and gender, and analysis of the independence/relatedness of cognitive deficits observed in distinct domains.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01MH057714-01A1
Application #
2766791
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-BRB-S (04))
Program Officer
Breiling, James P
Project Start
1999-04-15
Project End
2003-03-31
Budget Start
1999-04-15
Budget End
2000-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Rosalind Franklin University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
069501252
City
North Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60064
Walsh, Zach; Hendricks, Peter S; Smith, Stephanie et al. (2016) Hallucinogen use and intimate partner violence: Prospective evidence consistent with protective effects among men with histories of problematic substance use. J Psychopharmacol 30:601-7
Bengson, Jesse J; A Kelley, Todd; Mangun, George R (2015) The neural correlates of volitional attention: A combined fMRI and ERP study. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2443-54
Riser, Rebecca E; Kosson, David S (2013) Criminal behavior and cognitive processing in male offenders with antisocial personality disorder with and without comorbid psychopathy. Personal Disord 4:332-40
Munneke, Jaap; Heslenfeld, Dirk J; Usrey, W Martin et al. (2011) Preparatory effects of distractor suppression: evidence from visual cortex. PLoS One 6:e27700
Vitacco, Michael J; Kosson, David S (2010) Understanding psychopathy through an evaluation of interpersonal behavior: testing the factor structure of the interpersonal measure of psychopathy in a large sample of jail detainees. Psychol Assess 22:638-49
Mazaheri, Ali; Coffey-Corina, Sharon; Mangun, George R et al. (2010) Functional disconnection of frontal cortex and visual cortex in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 67:617-23
Swogger, Marc T; Walsh, Zach; Lejuez, C W et al. (2010) Psychopathy and Risk Taking among Jailed Inmates. Crim Justice Behav 37:439-452
MacLean, Katherine A; Aichele, Stephen R; Bridwell, David A et al. (2009) Interactions between endogenous and exogenous attention during vigilance. Atten Percept Psychophys 71:1042-58
Bagley, Amy D; Abramowitz, Carolyn S; Kosson, David S (2009) Vocal affect recognition and psychopathy: converging findings across traditional and cluster analytic approaches to assessing the construct. J Abnorm Psychol 118:388-98
Walsh, Zach; Swogger, Marc T; Kosson, David S (2009) Psychopathy and instrumental violence: facet level relationships. J Pers Disord 23:416-24

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