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Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits.

ABSTRACT: Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by atypical moral behaviour likely rooted in atypical affective/motivational processing, as opposed to an inability to judge the wrongness of an action. Guilt is a moral emotion believed to play a crucial role in adherence to moral and social norms, but the mechanisms by which guilt (or lack thereof) may influence behaviour in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits are unclear. We measured neural responses during the anticipation of guilt about committing potential everyday moral transgressions, and tested the extent to which these varied with psychopathic traits. We found a significant interaction between the degree to which anticipated guilt was modulated in the anterior insula and interpersonal psychopathic traits: anterior insula modulation of anticipated guilt was weaker in individuals with higher levels of these traits. Data from a second sample confirmed that this pattern of findings was specific to the modulation of anticipated guilt and not related to the perceived wrongness of the transgression. These results suggest a central role for the anterior insula in coding the anticipation of guilt regarding potential moral transgressions and advance our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms that may underlie propensity to antisocial behaviour.

SUBMITTER: Seara-Cardoso A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5093734 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits.

Seara-Cardoso Ana A Sebastian Catherine L CL McCrory Eamon E Foulkes Lucy L Buon Marine M Roiser Jonathan P JP Viding Essi E

Scientific reports 20161103

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by atypical moral behaviour likely rooted in atypical affective/motivational processing, as opposed to an inability to judge the wrongness of an action. Guilt is a moral emotion believed to play a crucial role in adherence to moral and social norms, but the mechanisms by which guilt (or lack thereof) may influence behaviour in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits are unclear. We measured neural responses during the anticipation o ...[more]

PMID: 27808160

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Project description:IMPORTANCE:This is the first study to date to examine volumetric alterations in the anterior insula (AI) as a potential biomarker for the course of childhood major depressive disorder (MDD). OBJECTIVES:To examine whether children with a history of preschool-onset (PO) MDD show reduced AI volume, whether a specific symptom of PO MDD (pathological guilt) is related to AI volume reduction (given the known relationship between AI and guilt processing), and whether AI volumes predict subsequent likelihood of having an episode of MDD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:In a prospective longitudinal study, 306 children (age range, 3.00-5.11 years) and caregivers completed DSM diagnostic assessments at 6 annual time points during 10 years as part of the Preschool Depression Study. Magnetic resonance imaging was completed on a subset of 145 school-age children (age range, 6.11-12.11 years). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:Whole-brain-adjusted AI volume measured using magnetic resonance imaging at school age and children's diagnosis of MDD any time after their imaging. RESULTS:Compared with children without a history of PO MDD, school-age children previously diagnosed as having PO MDD had smaller left and right AI volumes (Wilks ? = 0.94, F2,124 = 3.37, P =?.04, Cohen d = 0.23). However, the effect of PO MDD on reduced AI volumes was better explained by children's experience of pathological guilt during preschool (? = 0.91, F2,120 = 6.17, P =?.003, d =?.30). When covarying for children's lifetime history of MDD episodes, their experience of pathological guilt during preschool, as well as their sex and age at the time of imaging, schoolchildren's right-side AI volume was a significant predictor of being diagnosed as having an MDD episode after imaging (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.01-0.75; P =?.03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:These results provide evidence that structural abnormalities in AI volume are related to the neurobiology of depressive disorders starting in early childhood. The present findings are consistent with mounting research in adult MDD suggesting that insula function and structure may be a target biomarker for major depression.

Dataset Information

Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits.

Publications

Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits.

Similar Datasets

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