Perspective Chapter: Neuropsychology of Aggression in Psychopathy and Sociopathy – Insights for the Treatment and Study of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Abstract

N euro psychological studies of aggressive psychopaths have revealed characteristic def-kits in skills (hat require verbal mediation, conceptuai integration, and the abilities Ut anticipate consequences uf actions and to use feedback from beba\ior to modify nialadaptive response patterns. Formulations of this impairment pattern in terms of frontal lobe and left hemisphere disfunction are reviewed. If is proposed that tbe a^yressive psychopath suffers from an inability to form a self-referential conceptual ciassiikation system for behavioral control and that this predisposes to behavioral disinbibition in situations of stress and interpersonal ambiguitv. Finally, implications of neiiropsychological studies of ajifiressive psychopathy for tlie study of personality and psychopathology are discussed.