Brain change link to anti social behaviour in girls
27 October BBC
The brains of teenage girls with behavioural disorders are different
to those of their peers, UK researchers have found. The Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry study of 40 girls revealed differences in the
structure of areas linked to empathy and emotions.Previous work has
found similar results in boys.
Experts suggest it may be possible to use scans to spot problems
early, then offer social or psychological help.An estimated five in
every 100 teenagers in the UK are classed as having a conduct disorder.
It is a psychiatric condition which leads people to behave in
aggressive and anti-social ways, and which can increase the risk of
mental and physical health problems in adulthood.Rates have risen
significantly among adolescent girls in recent years, while levels in
males have remained about the same.
In this study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research
Council, UK and Italian researchers conducted brain scans of 22 teenage
girls who had conduct disorder and compared them with scans of 20 who
did not.
They also checked the scans against others previously taken of
teenage boys with conduct disorder. The team found part of the brain
called the amygdala was smaller in the brains of male and female
teenagers with conduct disorder than in their peers.
The amygdala is involved in picking up whether or not others feel
afraid and plays a role in people feeling fear themselves. Girls with
conduct disorder also had less grey matter in an area of the brain
called the insula - linked to emotion and understanding your own
emotions.
However the same area was larger in boys with conduct disorder than
healthy peers, and researchers are not yet sure why that is the case.
The brains of those with the worst behaviour were most different from
the norm.
Dr Andy Calder, from the MRC cognition and brain sciences unit, who
worked on the study, said: "The origins of these changes could be due to
being born with a particular brain dysfunction or it could be due to
exposure to adverse environments such as a distressing experience early
in life that could have an impact on the way the brain develops."
Dr Graeme Fairchild, of the University of Cambridge who also worked
on the study, said there were potential uses for the finding. "In the
US, people are already using brain scans to argue diminished
responsibility. I think we're too early in our understanding to really
do that, but it is happening.
"It would also be possible to use scans where a person is at high
risk of offending in the future. "More help could be given to the family
and, in the same way that someone with language impairment receives
extra help, help could be given to teach a person to understand emotions
- and the emotions of others - better."
Dr Michael Craig of King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry,
who is also looking at using scans to pick up early signs of conditions
such as anti-social behaviour, autism and attention
deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), said: "The important thing is
that in the studies to date there has been an absence of research
looking at females, so this work is an important first step.
"And it suggests that at least a component of this has a biological
basis - and there are people who don't believe there is one."
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