Antisocial behavior is imprinted in the brain

According to statistics, every fourth personat least once in childhood and adolescence demonstrates patterns of antisocial behavior. As they grow older, most people grow out of this behavior, but for about 10% of the population, antisocial behavior never disappears, continuing into adulthood. According to the inverse.com portal, in a new study, scientists scanned the brain of 672 people in order to find that people who behave asocially throughout their lives have less brain than those who do not. The results of the experiment may surprise even the most inveterate skeptic.

Antisocial behavior affects brain size

Can aggressive behavior affect the brain?

Aggressive and asocial behavior canhave a strong influence on the size of the brain. Thus, a study conducted at University College London, proves that aggressive behavior affects the reduction of surface area in those areas of the brain that are responsible for executive function, motivation and affective states. In contrast, the research team did not find any widespread structural brain abnormalities in people who showed antisocial behavior only in their teens.

Study results published inMonday at the Lancet Psychiatry journal, suggesting that these differences in brain structure can make it difficult for people to develop the social skills they need to stop them from engaging in antisocial behavior. Christina Carlisi, co-author of the study and researcher at University College London, argues that such observation can be used both for the diagnosis of antisocial behavior and for its treatment. If a tendency to negative behavior appears at an early age, then the situation can be intervened early enough to change the habits and behavior of people at an older age.

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The study is far fromthe first experiment to link atypical brain development with behavioral disorders. However, a brain scan of several hundred participants was able to clearly show that antisocial behavior directly affects a number of factors important to humans. So, out of 672 participants, 66% (441 people) did not have a history of persistent asocial behavior, 23% (151 people) showed asocial behavior in their young years, and 12% (80 people) had “lifelong persistent asocial behavior”. Members of the latter group showed problems of social behavior throughout their lives up to the age of 45.

Having analyzed the brain thickness of the participants, the areaIts surface, size, and some other structural details using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers found that individuals who had been showing antisocial behavior all their life had a significantly more reduced surface area in 282 of the 360 ​​areas of the brain. In addition, they also had a thinner cortex in 11 of the 360 ​​areas of the brain, including in areas related to the regulation of emotions and motivation.

In contrast, people who showed antisocial behavior only in their teens did not have widespread differences in brain structure.

Aggression, demonstrated only in adolescence, does not cause much harm to the general structure of the brain

The data obtained do not show that lifelongantisocial behavior is rooted in the brain or predetermined from birth. We still do not know whether people are born who exhibit such behavior throughout their lives, with certain differences in the brain, or whether these differences develop over time as a result of human behavior. In addition, the occurrence of asocial behavior may be due in part to certain environmental factors, such as drug use, smoking, or diet. In any case, the results of the study are important for the treatment of juvenile offenders, the researchers say.