by ALI PATTILLO
One in four people will show patterns of antisocial behavior at least once during their childhood and adolescence. From stealing to bullying, lying, or even committing violence, most people grow out of these behaviors.
But for about 10 percent of the population, antisocial behavior never goes away, persisting into adulthood. In a new study, scientists scanned the brains of 672 people to discover that people who have antisocial conduct throughout their lives have smaller brains than those who do not.
Individuals who showed antisocial behavior consistently up to age 45 had a thinner cortex and smaller surface area in brain regions associated with executive function, motivation, and affect, when compared to people who were not antisocial.
By contrast, the research team didn’t see any widespread structural brain abnormalities in people who exhibited antisocial behavior only during adolescence.
The study’s findings, published Monday in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, suggest these differences in brain structure may make it harder for people to develop the social skills they need to stop them from engaging in the antisocial behavior in the first place, Christina Carlisi, a co-author on the study and researcher at University College London said.
That has implications for diagnosis — and for treatment. If these changes appear in early life, or from birth, then it may be possible to intervene early enough to make a difference in people’s lifelong habits and conduct.
“These people could benefit from more support throughout their lives,” Carlisi said.
Mapping the brain
The study is not the first to link atypical brain development to antisocial behavior or conduct disorder. But it is the first to map out which areas of the brain may be distinct in people who only show antisocial behavior during early life as compared to people who exhibit this behavior across their lifespan.
Inverse for more