Investigating the neural substrates of Antagonistic Externalizing and social-cognitive Theory of Mind: an fMRI examination of functional activity and synchrony

Brandon Weiss; Andrew Jahn; Courtland S Hyatt; Max M Owens; Nathan T Carter; Lawrence H Sweet; Joshua D Miller; Brian W Haas

doi:10.1017/pen.2020.12

Investigating the neural substrates of Antagonistic Externalizing and social-cognitive Theory of Mind: an fMRI examination of functional activity and synchrony

Personal Neurosci. 2021 Jan 19:4:e1. doi: 10.1017/pen.2020.12. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Brandon Weiss¹, Andrew Jahn², Courtland S Hyatt¹, Max M Owens³, Nathan T Carter¹, Lawrence H Sweet¹, Joshua D Miller¹, Brian W Haas¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Georgia Franklin, College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology, Athens, Georgia.
² University of Michigan, fMRI Laboratory, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
³ University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

Abstract

Recently developed quantitative models of psychopathology (i.e., Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology) identify an Antagonistic Externalizing spectrum that captures the psychological disposition toward criminal and antisocial behavior. The purpose of the present study was to examine relations between Antagonistic psychopathology (and associated Five-Factor model Antagonism/Agreeableness) and neural functioning related to social-cognitive Theory of Mind using a large sample (N = 973) collected as part of the Human Connectome Project (Van Essen et al., 2013a). No meaningful relations between Antagonism/Antagonistic Externalizing and Theory of Mind-related neural activity or synchrony were observed (p < .005). We conclude by outlining methodological considerations (e.g., validity of social cognition task and low test-retest reliability of functional biomarkers) that may account for these null results, and present recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Antagonism; Externalizing; Personality; Social cognition; Theory of Mind.