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‘Map’ of teenage brain provides strong evidence of link between serious antisocial behaviour and brain development

cjb250 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 23:01:00 +0000

In a study published today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to look at the brain structure of male adolescents and young adults who had been diagnosed with conduct disorder – persistent behavioural problems including aggressive and destructive behaviour, lying and stealing, and for older children, weapon use or staying out all night.

In particular, the researchers looked at the coordinated development of different brain regions by studying whether they were similar or different in terms of thickness. Regions that develop at similar rates would be expected to show similar patterns of cortical thickness, for example.

“There’s evidence already of differences in the brains of individuals with serious behavioural problems, but this is often simplistic and only focused on regions such as the amygdala, which we know is important for emotional behaviour,” explains Dr Luca Passamonti from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the ��Ī. “But conduct disorder is a complex behavioural disorder, so likewise we would expect the changes to be more complex in nature and to potentially involve other brain regions.”

In a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, researchers at the ��Ī recruited 58 male adolescents and young adults with conduct disorder and 25 typically-developing controls, all aged between 16 and 21 years. The researchers divided the individuals with conduct disorder according to whether they displayed childhood-onset conduct disorder or adolescent-onset conduct disorder.

The team found that youths with childhood-onset conduct disorder (sometimes termed ‘early-starters’) showed a strikingly higher number of significant correlations in thickness between regions relative to the controls. They believe this may reflect disruptions in the normal pattern of brain development in childhood or adolescence.

On the other hand, youths with adolescent-onset conduct disorder (‘late starters’) displayed fewer such correlations than the healthy individuals. The researchers believe this may reflect specific disruptions in the development of the brain during adolescence, for example to the ‘pruning’ of nerve cells or the connections (synapses) between them.

As the findings were particularly striking, the researchers sought to replicate their findings in an independent sample of 37 individuals with conduct disorder and 32 healthy controls, all male and aged 13-18 years, recruited at the University of Southampton; they were able to confirm their findings, adding to the robustness of the study.

“The differences that we see between healthy teenagers and those with both forms of conduct disorders show that most of the brain is involved, but particularly the frontal and temporal regions of the brain,” says Dr Graeme Fairchild, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southampton. “This provides extremely compelling evidence that conduct disorder is a real psychiatric disorder and not, as some experts maintain, just an exaggerated form of teenage rebellion.

“These findings also show that there are important differences in the brain between those who develop problems early in childhood compared with those who only show behavioural problems in their teenage years. More research is now needed to investigate how to use these results to help these young people clinically and to examine the factors leading to this abnormal pattern of brain development, such as exposure to early adversity.”

“There’s never been any doubt that conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease are diseases of the brain because imaging allows us to see clearly how it eats away at the brain,” adds Professor Nicola Toschi from the University “Tor Vergata” of Rome, “but until now we haven’t been able to see the clear – and widespread – structural differences in the brains of youths with conduct disorder.”

Although the findings point to the importance of the brain in explaining the development of conduct disorder, it is not clear how the structural differences arise and whether, for example, it is a mixture of an individual’s genetic make-up and the environment in which they are raised that causes the changes. However, the researchers say their findings may make it possible to monitor objectively the effectiveness of interventions.

“Now that we have a way of imaging the whole brain and providing a ‘map’ of conduct disorder, we may in future be able to see whether the changes we have observed in this study are reversible if early interventions or psychological therapies are provided,” says Professor Ian Goodyer from the Department of Psychiatry at the ��Ī.

Reference
Fairchild, G et al. Mapping the structural organization of the brain in conduct disorder: replication of findings in two independent samples. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry; 16 June 2016 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12581

The brains of teenagers with serious antisocial behaviour problems differ significantly in structure to those of their peers, providing the clearest evidence to date that their behaviour stems from changes in brain development in early life, according to new research led by the ��Ī and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Italy.

Conduct disorder is a complex behavioural disorder, so we would expect the changes to be more complex in nature and to potentially involve other brain regions.

Luca Passamonti

Nicola Toschi

The orbitofrontal cortex (blue) and medial temporal cortex (red) were more similar in terms of thickness in youths with Conduct Disorder than in typically-developing youths, suggesting that the normal pattern of brain development is disrupted.

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Generation blame: how age affects our views of anti-social behaviour

fpjl2 — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:12:01 +0000

A study of interpretations of anti-social behaviour (ASB) found a significant gap between the views of different age groups - with older people more likely than younger people to interpret public behaviour as anti-social, particularly when associated with young people.

More than 80% of adults thought swearing in a public place was ASB compared with less than 43% of young people, and more than 60% of adults listed cycling or skateboarding on the street compared with less than 8% of young people.

40% of adults saw young people hanging around as ASB compared with 9% of teenagers.

Lead researcher Dr Susie Hulley, from ��Ī’s Institute of Criminology, compared views of teenagers at a secondary school with those of adult residents in the same part of Greater London, and believes that perceptions of risk may influence adults’ views of young people.

“It is notable – and worrying - that young people’s presence in public places, regardless of their behaviour, was considered to be an ASB by four in ten adults,” said Hulley. “The information that adults have about young people, for example from their negative portrayal in the media, often defines them in terms of the threat that they allegedly pose to adults.”

In making a direct comparison between younger teenagers’ perceptions about particular (so-called) anti-social behaviours with those of adults - as both groups completed the same questionnaire - the research was the first of its kind, and could offer valuable pointers to policy-makers looking to foster more cohesive communities during a time when the generation gap appears to be widening, says the study’s author.

“In the context of increasing distances between generations, between ‘them’ and ‘us’, efforts should be focused on improving social connectedness by bringing adults and young people together so that adults can get a better understanding of young people and their behaviour,” said Hulley.

“For example, previous research shows that young people gather in public places, which adults use, to feel safe and that adults often don’t know the local young people, whose behaviour they are interpreting and who they perceive as a risk.”

The research, carried out while Hulley was studying at University College London, is published online today in the Journal of Crime Prevention and Community Safety.

Hulley compared the views of 185 teenagers (aged 11-15) at a Greater London comprehensive school in 2006 with those of over 200 adult residents in the same area, in order to establish whether there are significant age-related differences. The questionnaire listed 18 different behaviours (from ‘assaulting a police officer’ to ‘young people hanging around in streets/parks’) and set out a series of vignettes to capture the views of the two groups.

The results showed that a wide variety of behaviours were identified as anti-social. Acts defined as ASB ranged from serious crimes to everyday behaviours such as gathering in groups and playing football in the street.

The majority of adults and young people agreed that murder, assault, burglary and shoplifting were anti-social behaviours. These were the only behaviours that were interpreted as ASB by at least 93% of adults and young people, with no significant differences between the groups.

At the lower end of the spectrum there was no such consensus, with adults significantly more likely to interpret all other behaviours presented to them as anti-social when compared with young people, including: young people hanging around; dropping litter and chewing gum; swearing in a public place; dumping rubbish or waste; scratching names or comments on bus windows; spray painting on walls; illegal parking.

In comparing the responses to the vignettes contained in the questionnaire, Hulley found that, not only did the age of the person defining the behaviour affect interpretations, but so did the age of those perceived to be the ‘perpetrators’ and the ‘victims’ of particular behaviours.

A group of young people blocking the pavement were more likely to be said to be behaving anti-socially than a group of middle aged women with pushchairs who were also blocking the pavement by both adults and young people. Still, more adults than teenagers identified the young people as anti-social.

A group of girls shouting insults at an elderly lady were defined as ASB by all adults and all but five young people, but only 60% of adults and 76% of young people defined an elderly man shouting insults at a group of teenage boys as anti-social. In conversation, adult participants surmised that the boys must have provoked the elderly man and some commented that he was ‘brave’ to confront them.

“The results of the study show that, in practice, the identification of behaviour as anti-social involved an interpretative process that is not based simply on the behaviour itself but on the age of those involved,” said Hulley.

“My research confirms that young people are particularly likely to be labelled perpetrators of ASB - especially by adult observers - and are less likely to be recognised as victims of ASB.”

Research reveals disconnect between what adults and young people interpret as anti-social behaviour (ASB), as 40% of adults see young people gathering in public as ASB. Study is the first to directly compare teenage perceptions of ASB with those of adults.

The information that adults have about young people, for example from their negative portrayal in the media, often defines them in terms of the threat that they allegedly pose to adults

Susie Hulley

Paul Townsend

Mods & Rockers 1960s - 1970s

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Scans reveal differences in brain structure of antisocial teens

gm349 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:45:17 +0000

Brain scans of aggressive and antisocial teenage boys with conduct disorder (CD) have revealed differences in the structure of the developing brain that could link to their behaviour problems.

The study, by neuroscientists at the ��Ī and the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, reveals that the brain differences were present regardless of the age of onset of the disorder, challenging the view that adolescence-onset CD is merely a consequence of imitating badly behaved peers. The new research was funded jointly by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

CD is a psychiatric condition characterised by increased aggressive and antisocial behaviour. It can develop in childhood or in adolescence and affects around five out of every 100 teenagers in the UK. Those affected are at greater risk of developing further mental and physical health problems in adulthood.

The neuroscientists used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the size of particular regions in the brains of 65 teenage boys with CD compared with 27 teenage boys who did not display symptoms of behavioural disorder.

Their findings revealed that the amygdala and insula – regions of the brain that contribute to emotion perception, empathy and recognising when other people are in distress – were strikingly smaller in teenagers with antisocial behaviour. The changes were present in childhood-onset CD and in adolescence-onset CD, and the greater the severity of the behaviour problems, the greater the reduction in the volume of the insula.

Smaller volume of structures in the brain involved in emotional behaviour has been linked to childhood-onset CD, in which behavioural problems manifest early in life. However, adolescence-onset CD was previously thought to be caused solely by the imitation of badly behaved peers. The current findings cast doubt on this view and suggest a potential neurological basis for these serious and challenging conditions, whether they emerge in childhood or adolescence.

Ian Goodyer, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the ��Ī, and Dr Graeme Fairchild, now based at the University of Southampton, led the research. Dr Fairchild explained: “Changes in grey matter volume in these areas of the brain could explain why teenagers with conduct disorder have difficulties in recognising emotions in others. Further studies are now needed to investigate whether these changes in brain structure are a cause or a consequence of the disorder."

Professor Goodyer added: "We hope that our results will contribute to existing psychosocial strategies for detecting children at high risk for developing antisocial behaviour.”

Dr Andy Calder from the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, who co-led the research, commented: “Studies such as this are tremendously important in understanding the causes of conduct disorder. Only when we are confident that we understand why the disorder develops can we apply this knowledge to the further development and evaluation of treatments. The disorder has a devastating impact on families and communities, and at the moment, we have few effective treatments.”

The group have previously shown that individuals with both forms of conduct disorder display abnormal patterns of brain activity, but this new work marks an important advance in understanding the biology of aggression and violence by showing that differences in brain structure are linked to the disorder.

The study will appear online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Brain scans of teenage boys with severe antisocial behaviour have revealed differences in the structure of the developing brain.

We hope that our results will contribute to existing psychosocial strategies for detecting children at high risk for developing antisocial behaviour.

Ian Goodyer, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the ��Ī

g.fairchild@all, 2011

MRI brain scan highlights the insula, one of the areas of the brain that is reduced in volume in subjects with Conduct Disorder.

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�������������Ī - antisocial

‘Map’ of teenage brain provides strong evidence of link between serious antisocial behaviour and brain development

Generation blame: how age affects our views of anti-social behaviour

Scans reveal differences in brain structure of antisocial teens

��Ī - antisocial