AUTHOR=Allen Corey H. , Maurer J. Michael , Edwards Bethany G. , Gullapalli Aparna R. , Harenski Carla L. , Harenski Keith A. , Calhoun Vince D. , Kiehl Kent A. TITLE=Aberrant resting-state functional connectivity in incarcerated women with elevated psychopathic traits JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroimaging VOLUME=1 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroimaging/articles/10.3389/fnimg.2022.971201 DOI=10.3389/fnimg.2022.971201 ISSN=2813-1193 ABSTRACT=

Previous work in incarcerated men suggests that individuals scoring high on psychopathy exhibit aberrant resting-state paralimbic functional network connectivity (FNC). However, it is unclear whether similar results extend to women scoring high on psychopathy. This study examined whether psychopathic traits [assessed via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R)] were associated with aberrant inter-network connectivity, intra-network connectivity (i.e., functional coherence within a network), and amplitude of fluctuations across limbic and surrounding paralimbic regions among incarcerated women (n = 297). Resting-state networks were identified by applying group Independent Component Analysis to resting-state fMRI scans. We tested the association of psychopathic traits (PCL-R Factor 1 measuring interpersonal/affective psychopathic traits and PCL-R Factor 2 assessing lifestyle/antisocial psychopathic traits) to the three FNC measures. PCL-R Factor 1 scores were associated with increased low-frequency fluctuations in executive control and attentional networks, decreased high-frequency fluctuations in executive control and visual networks, and decreased intra-network FNC in default mode network. PCL-R Factor 2 scores were associated with decreased high-frequency fluctuations and default mode networks, and both increased and decreased intra-network functional connectivity in visual networks. Similar to previous analyses in incarcerated men, our results suggest that psychopathic traits among incarcerated women are associated with aberrant intra-network amplitude fluctuations and connectivity across multiple networks including limbic and surrounding paralimbic regions.