DYSFUNCTIONAL BIT NOT FUNCTIONAL, IMPULSIVITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH A HISTORY OF SERIOUSLY VIOLENT BEHAVIOR AND REDUCED ORBITOFRONTAL AND HIPPOCAMPUS VOLUMES IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Veena Kumari, Ian Barkataki, Sangeeta Goswami, Satinder Flora, Mrigendra Das, Pamela Taylord published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 173 (2009) 39–44
2009
Aggression Violent Acts Hippocampus Impulsive Personality Trait Dysfunctional Impulsivity

Aggression and violent acts have been linked with impulsive responding. We investigated whether impulsive personality trait, especially suggestive of dysfunctional impulsivity (i.e. fast and inaccurate responding where this is non-optimal), is associated with a history of seriously violent behaviour and specific brain deficits in schizophrenia. Findings suggest that dysfunctional, but not functional, impulsivity is elevated in patients with schizophrenia with a propensity for repetitive violence, and this in turn appears to be associated with reduce volumes of both the orbitofrontal cortex grey matter and the hippocampus. Violence risk prediction and management strategies in schizophrenia may benefit from including specific measures of dysfunctional impulsive traits.