Emotion processing in youths with conduct problems: an fMRI meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Background:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies highlight emotion processing differences in youth with conduct problems.
• No previous meta-analysis has specifically examined emotion-specific neural responses in this population.
• This study addresses the need for an updated assessment of socio-affective neural responding in conduct problem youth.

Approach:

• Systematic literature search of fMRI studies in youths (ages 10-21) with conduct problems.
• Task-specific seed-based d mapping analyses were performed on responses to threatening images, facial expressions, and empathic pain stimuli.
• Included 23 fMRI studies with 606 youths with conduct problems and 459 comparison youths.

Key Points:

• Youths with conduct problems exhibited reduced activation in the left supplementary motor area and superior frontal gyrus when viewing angry facial expressions.
• Reduced activation in the right amygdala was observed across youths with conduct problems when viewing negative images and fearful facial expressions.
• Youths with callous-unemotional traits showed reduced activation in the left fusiform gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus when viewing fearful facial expressions.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest dysfunction in brain regions critical for empathic responding and social learning, including the amygdala and temporal cortex, consistent with conduct problem behaviors.
• Reduced fusiform gyrus activation in youth with callous-unemotional traits may indicate impaired attention or facial processing.
• These neural patterns highlight empathic responding, social learning, and facial processing as potential targets for intervention in conduct problems.