An 'embedded brain' approach to understanding antisocial behaviour

Essi Viding; Eamon McCrory; Arielle Baskin-Sommers; Stephane De Brito; Paul Frick

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.013

An 'embedded brain' approach to understanding antisocial behaviour

Trends Cogn Sci. 2024 Feb;28(2):159-171. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.013. Epub 2023 Sep 15.

Authors

Essi Viding¹, Eamon McCrory², Arielle Baskin-Sommers³, Stephane De Brito⁴, Paul Frick⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: e.viding@ucl.ac.uk.
² Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
³ Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8205, USA.
⁴ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.

PMID: 37718176
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.013

Abstract

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) incurs substantial costs to the individual and society. Cognitive neuroscience has the potential to shed light on developmental risk for ASB, but it cannot achieve this potential in an 'essentialist' framework that focuses on the brain and cognition isolated from the environment. Here, we present the case for studying the social transactional and iterative unfolding of brain and cognitive development in a relational context. This approach, which we call the study of the 'embedded brain', is needed to fully understand how risk for ASB arises during development. Concentrated efforts are required to develop and unify methods to achieve this approach and reap the benefits for improved prevention and intervention of ASB.

Keywords: antisocial behaviour; brain; callous-unemotional traits; conduct problems; emotion; socio-emotional.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Antisocial Personality Disorder*
Behavior Therapy
Brain
Conduct Disorder* / psychology
Emotions
Humans