Time discounting and criminal behavior.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Akerlund D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4896668 | biostudies-other | 2016 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:Following brain lesions, previously normal patients sometimes exhibit criminal behavior. Although rare, these cases can lend unique insight into the neurobiological substrate of criminality. Here we present a systematic mapping of lesions with known temporal association to criminal behavior, identifying 17 lesion cases. The lesion sites were spatially heterogeneous, including the medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and different locations within the bilateral temporal lobes. No single brain region was damaged in all cases. Because lesion-induced symptoms can come from sites connected to the lesion location and not just the lesion location itself, we also identified brain regions functionally connected to each lesion location. This technique, termed lesion network mapping, has recently identified regions involved in symptom generation across a variety of lesion-induced disorders. All lesions were functionally connected to the same network of brain regions. This criminality-associated connectivity pattern was unique compared with lesions causing four other neuropsychiatric syndromes. This network includes regions involved in morality, value-based decision making, and theory of mind, but not regions involved in cognitive control or empathy. Finally, we replicated our results in a separate cohort of 23 cases in which a temporal relationship between brain lesions and criminal behavior was implied but not definitive. Our results suggest that lesions in criminals occur in different brain locations but localize to a unique resting state network, providing insight into the neurobiology of criminal behavior.
| S-EPMC5776958 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IMPORTANCE:Neurodegenerative diseases can cause dysfunction of neural structures involved in judgment, executive function, emotional processing, sexual behavior, violence, and self-awareness. Such dysfunctions can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior that appears for the first time in the adult or middle-aged individual or even later in life. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the frequency and type of criminal behavior among patients with a diagnosed dementing disorder. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:We conducted a retrospective medical record review of 2397 patients who were seen at the University of California, San Francisco, Memory and Aging Center between 1999 and 2012, including 545 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), 171 patients with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 89 patients with semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia, and 30 patients with Huntington disease. Patient notes containing specific keywords denoting criminal behavior were reviewed. Data were stratified by criminal behavior type and diagnostic groups. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:Frequencies of criminal behavior and ?² statistics were calculated. RESULTS:Of the 2397 patients studied, 204 (8.5%) had a history of criminal behavior that emerged during their illness. Of the major diagnostic groups, 42 of 545 patients (7.7%) with AD, 64 of 171 patients (37.4%) with bvFTD, 24 of 89 patients (27.0%) with semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia, and 6 of 30 patients (20%) with Huntington disease exhibited criminal behavior. A total of 14% of patients with bvFTD were statistically significantly more likely to present with criminal behavior compared with 2% of patients with AD (P?<?.001) and 6.4% were statistically significantly more likely to exhibit violence compared with 2% of patients with AD (P?=?.003). Common manifestations of criminal behavior in the bvFTD group included theft, traffic violations, sexual advances, trespassing, and public urination in contrast with those in the AD group, who commonly committed traffic violations, often related to cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:Criminal behavior is more common in patients with bvFTD and semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia than in those with AD and is more likely to be an early manifestation of the disorder. Judicial evaluations of criminality in the demented individual might require different criteria than the classic "insanity defense" used in the American legal system; these individuals should be treated differently by the law. The appearance of new-onset criminal behavior in an adult should elicit a search for frontal and anterior temporal brain disease and for dementing disorders.
| S-EPMC4432918 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Gambling disorder (GD) is a psychiatric condition that was recently recategorized as a non-substance-related addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders. Criminal activity is commonly associated with gambling; however, few empirical studies to date have examined sociodemographic and psychological variables in this population. In this study, we explored criminal behavior history in a sample of consecutively recruited treatment-seeking gamblers (n = 382) and compared subjects with a history of illegal acts (n = 103, 26.9%) to those with no criminal record (n = 279, 73.1%). Impulsivity and personality traits were specifically explored, along with other gambling-related severity factors. We found that gamblers who engaged in illegal activity were more likely to endorse high levels of urgency (i.e., the tendency to act out when experiencing heightened emotional states) and increased lack of premeditation. Gamblers with a history of criminal behavior also had greater GD severity levels and gambling-related debts. Additionally, these gamblers reported lower levels of self-directedness, which is characterized by difficulty in establishing and redirecting behavior toward one's goals. Likewise, gamblers who had conducted criminal acts showed a tendency to engage in greater risk-taking behavior. These results shed new light on this understudied population and provide insights for developing targeted harm-prevention interventions and treatment protocols.
| S-EPMC5796889 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Delayed reward discounting (DRD) is a behavioral economic index of impulsivity and numerous studies have examined DRD in relation to addictive behavior. To synthesize the findings across the literature, the current review is a meta-analysis of studies comparing DRD between criterion groups exhibiting addictive behavior and control groups.The meta-analysis sought to characterize the overall patterns of findings, systematic variability by sample and study type, and possible small study (publication) bias.Literature reviews identified 310 candidate articles from which 46 studies reporting 64 comparisons were identified (total N=56,013).From the total comparisons identified, a small magnitude effect was evident (d= .15; p< .00001) with very high heterogeneity of effect size. Based on systematic observed differences, large studies assessing DRD with a small number of self-report items were removed and an analysis of 57 comparisons (n=3,329) using equivalent methods and exhibiting acceptable heterogeneity revealed a medium magnitude effect (d= .58; p< .00001). Further analyses revealed significantly larger effect sizes for studies using clinical samples (d= .61) compared with studies using nonclinical samples (d=.45). Indices of small study bias among the various comparisons suggested varying levels of influence by unpublished findings, ranging from minimal to moderate.These results provide strong evidence of greater DRD in individuals exhibiting addictive behavior in general and particularly in individuals who meet criteria for an addictive disorder. Implications for the assessment of DRD and research priorities are discussed.
| S-EPMC3201846 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Prior studies sought to explain the predisposition to suicidal behavior in terms of myopic preference for immediate versus delayed reward, generating mixed evidence. Data from gambling and bandit tasks, however, suggest that suboptimal decisions in suicidal individuals are explained by inconsistent valuation rather than myopic preferences. We tested these two alternative hypotheses using a delay discounting task in 622 adults (suicide attempters with depression, suicide ideators with depression, nonsuicidal participants with depression, and healthy controls) recruited across three sites through inpatient psychiatric units, mood disorders clinics, primary care, and advertisements. Multilevel models revealed group differences in valuation consistencies in all three samples, with high-lethality suicide attempters exhibiting less consistent valuation than all other groups in Samples 1 and 3 and less consistent valuation than the healthy controls or participants with depression in Sample 2. In contrast, group differences in preference for immediate versus delayed reward were observed only in Sample 1 and were due to the high-lethality suicide attempters displaying a weaker preference for immediate reward than low-lethality suicide attempters. The findings were robust to confounds such as cognitive functioning and comorbidities. Seemingly impulsive choices in suicidal behavior are explained by inconsistent reward valuation rather than a true preference for immediate reward. In a suicidal crisis, this inconsistency may result in a misestimation of the value of suicide relative to constructive alternatives and deterrents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
| S-EPMC8893041 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Human aggression is a heterogeneous behavior with biological, psychological, and social backgrounds. As the biological mechanisms that regulate aggression are components of both reward-seeking and adversity-fleeing behavior, these phenomena are difficult to disentangle into separate neurochemical processes. Nevertheless, evidence exists linking some forms of aggression to aberrant serotonergic neurotransmission. We determined possible associations between 6 serotonergic neurotransmission-related gene variants and severe criminal offenses.Male Russian prisoners who were convicted for murder (n = 117) or theft (n = 77) were genotyped for variants of the serotonin transporter (5HTTLPR), tryptophan hydroxylase, tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase, or type 2C (5-HT2C) receptor genes and compared with general-population male controls (n = 161). Prisoners were psychologically phenotyped using the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory.No differences were found between murderers and thieves either concerning genotypes or concerning psychological measures. Comparison of polymorphism distribution between groups of prisoners and controls revealed highly significant associations of 5HTTLPR and 5-HTR2C (rs6318) gene polymorphisms with being convicted for criminal behavior.The lack of biological differences between the 2 groups of prisoners indicates that the studied 5HT-related genes do not differentiate between the types of crimes committed.
| S-EPMC5981829 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A form of impulsivity, the tendency to choose immediate over delayed rewards (delay-discounting) has been associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene (COMTval¹??met; rs4680). However, the existing data regarding the nature of this association are in conflict. We have previously reported that adults homozygous for valine (val) at the COMTval¹??met SNP demonstrate greater delay-discounting than do methionine (met) allele carriers (Boettiger et al., J Neurosci 27:14383-14391, 2007). In contrast, a recent study of adolescent males found that those with the met/met genotype demonstrate greater delay-discounting than do val-allele carriers (Paloyelis et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 35:2414-2426, 2010). Based on reported age-related changes in frontal dopamine function and COMT expression, we hypothesized that the association of COMT genotype with delay-discounting behavior is modulated by age from late adolescence to young adulthood.To test this hypothesis, we genotyped late adolescents (18-21 years; n?=?72) and adults (22-40 years; n?=?70) for the COMTval¹??met polymorphism, measured their delay-discounting behavior, and tested for an interaction between age group and COMT genotype.This cross-sectional study found that age modulates COMTval¹??met genotype effects on delay-discounting behavior. Among met-carriers, delay-discounting was negatively correlated with age from late adolescence to adulthood, while among val/val individuals delay-discounting was positively correlated with age across this range.These results confirm our previous finding of enhanced delay-discounting among val/val adults relative to met-allele carriers, and help reconcile existing literature. We propose a single U-shaped model of the relationship between frontal DA levels and impulsive choice that accounts for both adolescent and adult data.
| S-EPMC3401276 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Chronic pain (CP) is a global problem extensively associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. Time discounting (TD), a tendency to assign less value to future gains than to present gains, is an indicator of the unhealthy behaviors. While, recent neuroimaging studies implied overlapping neuro mechanisms underlying CP and TD, little is known about the specific relationship between CP and TD in behavior or neuroscience. As such, we investigated the association of TD with behavioral measures in CP and resting-state brain functional network in both CP patients and healthy subjects. Behaviorally, TD showed a significant correlation with meaningfulness in healthy subjects, whereas TD in patients only correlated with pain intensity. We identified a specific network including medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in default mode network (DMN) associated with TD in healthy subjects that showed significant indirect mediation effect of meaningfulness on TD. In contrast, TD in patients was correlated with functional connectivity between dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) and temporal lobe that mediated the effect of pain intensity on TD in patients. These results imply that TD is modulated by pain intensity in CP patients, and the brain function associated to TD is shifted from a medial to lateral representation within the frontal regions.
| S-EPMC6544657 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A growing body of research highlights the continuum between dark and bright personality traits impacting individual prosocial or antisocial tendencies. However, the interplay between personality dimensions and actual criminal behavior and its reoccurrence is not fully elucidated. We aimed to explore the cumulative predictive value of the bright and dark core of personality for criminal history in differentiating a general community sample (N = 282) from a large sample of inmates (N = 296), with (n = 129) or without (n = 167) criminal history while controlling for age, sex and impression management. Predictors of first-time offending were higher levels of Neuroticism, Openness, Dark Factor, Sadism, and Deceitfulness. Criminal recidivism was predicted by high Neuroticism and Deceitfulness. Finally, higher levels of Extraversion were negatively related to criminal behavior and history, highlighting a potential protective effect of displaying assertive and sociable tendencies. The findings highlight the relevance of considering the dark personality core complementary to the typical personality dimensions in the risk assessment, prediction, and reduction of criminal behavior.
| S-EPMC11316059 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AIMS:To synthesize continuous associations between delayed reward discounting (DRD) and both addiction severity and quantity-frequency (QF); to examine moderators of these relationships; and to investigate publication bias. METHODS:Meta-analysis of published studies examining continuous associations between DRD and addictive behaviors. Published, peer-reviewed studies on addictive behaviors (alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, stimulants, opiates and gambling) were identified via PubMed, MEDLINE and PsycInfo. Studies were restricted to DRD measures of monetary gains. Random-effects meta-analysis was conducted using Pearson's r as the effect size. Publication bias was evaluated using fail-safe N, Begg-Mazumdar and Egger's tests, meta-regression of publication year and effect size and imputation of missing studies. RESULTS:The primary meta-analysis revealed a small magnitude effect size that was highly significant (r = 0.14, P < 10-14 ). Significantly larger effect sizes were observed for studies examining severity compared with QF (P = 0.01), but not between the type of addictive behavior (P = 0.30) or DRD assessment (P = 0.90). Indices of publication bias suggested a modest impact of unpublished findings. CONCLUSIONS:Delayed reward discounting is associated robustly with continuous measures of addiction severity and quantity-frequency. This relation is generally robust across type of addictive behavior and delayed reward discounting assessment modality.
| S-EPMC5148639 | biostudies-literature