Brain Sci. 2023, 13(3), 474
NEURAL CORRELATES OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: THE VICTIM’S PERSPECTIVE
Nicolò Trevisan 1,2 , Giulia Cattarinussi 1,2 , Daniele Olivo 1, Andrea Di Ciano 3, Lucia Giudetti 3, Alan Pampallona 3,†, Katharina M. Kubera 4, Dusan Hirjak 5 , Robert ChristianWolf 4 and Fabio Sambataro 1,2,*
1 Department of Neuroscience (DNS), University of Padua, 35121 Padua, Italy
2 Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, 35129 Padua, Italy
3 Fondazione Giancarlo Quarta, 20129 Milan, Italy
4 Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
5 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
* Correspondence: fabio.sambataro@unipd.it
† Deceased.
Abstract
Antisocial behavior involves actions that disregard the basic rights of others and may represent a threat to the social system. The neural processes associated with being subject to antisocial behavior, including social victimization, are still unknown. In this study, we used a social interaction task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural bases of social victimization. Brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) were estimated and correlated with the Big 5 Questionnaire, Temperament Evaluation in Memphis, Pisa and San Diego (TEMPS-M), and a Questionnaire of Daily Frustration scores. During social victimization, the right occipital and temporal cortex showed increased activation. The temporal cortex also had reduced FC with homotopic areas. Compared to the prosocial interaction, social victimization showed hyperactivation of the dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal cortex, putamen, and thalamus and increased FC of the medial-frontal–striatal–thalamic areas with the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, insula, dorsal cingulate, and postcentral gyrus. Lastly, neuroticism, irritable temperament, and frustration scores were correlated with the magnitude of neural responses to social victimization. Our findings suggest that social victimization engages a set of regions associated with salience, emotional processing, and regulation, and these responses can be modulated by temperamental and personality traits.
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