Appointment
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.
