Reduced harm aversion relates to antisocial behaviors and orbitofrontal atrophy in dementia patients

Antisocial behaviors occur in dementia, but the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain underexplored. We administered a decision-making task measuring patients' harm aversion by offering options to shock themselves or another person in exchange for money, hypothesizing that task performance would relate to antisocial behaviors and ventromedial/orbitofrontal cortex (vmPFC/OFC) atrophy.

Among 43 dementia patients (n = 23 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia [bvFTD], n = 20 Alzheimer's disease [AD]), we used linear regressions to measure relationships between harm aversion and antisocial behavior, psychopathic personality traits, socioemotional functions, and vmPFC/OFC cortical thickness, controlling for age, sex, and cognitive dysfunction.

BvFTD patients demonstrated reduced aversion to harming others and themselves versus AD patients. Reduced aversion to harming others was associated with non-aggressive antisocial behaviors, psychopathic personality traits, impaired empathic concern, impaired perspective taking, and right vmPFC/OFC atrophy.

Changes to harm aversion are associated with right frontopolar atrophy and rule-breaking criminal behavior in dementia patients.

Patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia demonstrate reduced aversion to harming others compared to patients with AD. Reduced aversion to harming others was associated with non-aggressive behavioral changes, psychopathic personality traits, impaired empathic concern, and impaired perspective taking. Reduced aversion to harming others was associated with atrophy in the right vmPFC and OFC, specifically in medial Brodmann area 10.