The manipulation map: How the Dark Triad shapes the brain

Major advances have been made in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying the Dark Triad - Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy - yet existing research remains fragmented and rarely examines these traits as an integrated construct. Previous studies have identified structural and functional brain correlates of individual components, but findings are often inconsistent and isolated. This systematic review addresses this gap by synthesizing evidence from 16 empirical studies with a total sample of N = 4246 participants. Integrating results from neuroimaging, lesion, and genetic research, the review provides the first comprehensive overview of the neural architecture of the Dark Triad. The findings indicate a shared core of heightened striatal reward sensitivity, alongside distinct neural profiles: Machiavellianism is associated with enhanced prefrontal and insular activity, psychopathy with deficits in amygdala-orbitofrontal circuits, and narcissism with altered default mode network functioning related to self-referential processing. Overall, the Dark Triad is best understood as emerging from distributed, interacting neural systems rather than isolated brain regions.