Electroencephalographic abnormalities in antisocial personality disorder.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Forensic Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Brain dysfunction has been inconsistently linked to violent offending.
• Previous studies on EEG abnormalities in offenders yielded varied results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate electroencephalogram (EEG) differences in violent offenders, particularly those with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD).
• To compare visual EEG inspection with quantitative EEG (QEEG) and Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA) findings.

Main Methods:

• EEG data from 84 violent prisoners were analyzed using visual inspection and QEEG.
• LORETA was used to analyze the theta band of EEG spectra.
• Offenders were categorized into groups with and without ASPD.

Main Results:

• Visual EEG inspection showed similar abnormality rates (82% ASPD vs. 79% non-ASPD) and topography between groups.
• QEEG revealed excess theta-delta activity and reduced alpha activity in the right fronto-temporal and left temporo-parietal regions in the ASPD group.
• LORETA indicated increased theta activity in the left temporal and parietal regions for the ASPD group.

Conclusions:

• QEEG and source localization techniques like LORETA can identify significant differences in brain electrical activity among offenders with ASPD.
• These quantitative methods reveal brain abnormalities not evident through standard visual EEG analysis.