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Reduced default mode connectivity in adolescents with conduct disorder

Reduced default mode connectivity in adolescents with conduct disorder
Reduced default mode connectivity in adolescents with conduct disorder
Objective: conduct disorder (CD) is characterized by impulsive, aggressive, and antisocial behaviors that may be related to deficits in empathy and moral reasoning. The brain’s default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in self-referential cognitive processes of this kind.

Method: we examined connectivity between key nodes of the DMN in 29 male adolescents with CD and 29 age- and sex-matched typically-developing adolescents. We ensured that group differences in DMN connectivity were not explained by comorbidity with other disorders by systematically controlling for the effects of substance use disorders (SUDs), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, psychopathic traits, and other common mental health problems.

Results: only after adjusting for co-occurring ADHD symptoms, the group with CD showed hypo-connectivity between core DMN regions relative to typically-developing controls. ADHD symptoms themselves were associated with DMN hyperconnectivity. There was no effect of psychopathic traits on DMN connectivity in the group with CD, and the key results were unchanged when controlling for SUDs and other common mental health problems.

Conclusion: future research should directly investigate the possibility that the aberrant DMN connectivity observed in the current study contributes to CD-related deficits in empathy and moral reasoning, and examine self-referential cognitive processes in CD more generally
0890-8567
800-808.e1
Broulidakis, Manoussos
3c9f7ce0-88fc-4ed8-b0e1-1f4b3237ab13
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f
Sully, Kate
3fa3e554-2598-4ccc-8da2-e580759f6fd6
Blumensath, Thomas
470d9055-0373-457e-bf80-4389f8ec4ead
Darekar, Angela
62e6b511-a358-4e5d-a4ea-03890ba7c2c7
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635
Broulidakis, Manoussos
3c9f7ce0-88fc-4ed8-b0e1-1f4b3237ab13
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f
Sully, Kate
3fa3e554-2598-4ccc-8da2-e580759f6fd6
Blumensath, Thomas
470d9055-0373-457e-bf80-4389f8ec4ead
Darekar, Angela
62e6b511-a358-4e5d-a4ea-03890ba7c2c7
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635

Broulidakis, Manoussos, Fairchild, Graeme, Sully, Kate, Blumensath, Thomas, Darekar, Angela and Sonuga-Barke, Edmund (2016) Reduced default mode connectivity in adolescents with conduct disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 55 (6), 800-808.e1. (doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.05.021).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objective: conduct disorder (CD) is characterized by impulsive, aggressive, and antisocial behaviors that may be related to deficits in empathy and moral reasoning. The brain’s default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in self-referential cognitive processes of this kind.

Method: we examined connectivity between key nodes of the DMN in 29 male adolescents with CD and 29 age- and sex-matched typically-developing adolescents. We ensured that group differences in DMN connectivity were not explained by comorbidity with other disorders by systematically controlling for the effects of substance use disorders (SUDs), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, psychopathic traits, and other common mental health problems.

Results: only after adjusting for co-occurring ADHD symptoms, the group with CD showed hypo-connectivity between core DMN regions relative to typically-developing controls. ADHD symptoms themselves were associated with DMN hyperconnectivity. There was no effect of psychopathic traits on DMN connectivity in the group with CD, and the key results were unchanged when controlling for SUDs and other common mental health problems.

Conclusion: future research should directly investigate the possibility that the aberrant DMN connectivity observed in the current study contributes to CD-related deficits in empathy and moral reasoning, and examine self-referential cognitive processes in CD more generally

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Accepted/In Press date: 27 May 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 28 June 2016
Published date: September 2016
Organisations: Clinical Neuroscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 397844
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/397844
ISSN: 0890-8567
PURE UUID: 492c1e82-61a3-4660-a3e2-469783d6bbe6
ORCID for Graeme Fairchild: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7814-9938
ORCID for Thomas Blumensath: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7489-265X

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Date deposited: 08 Jul 2016 08:01
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:43

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Contributors

Author: Manoussos Broulidakis
Author: Graeme Fairchild ORCID iD
Author: Kate Sully
Author: Angela Darekar
Author: Edmund Sonuga-Barke

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