Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Athanasios Douzenis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Greece
- Second opponent: Adjunct Professor Irina Franke, University of Ulm, Germany
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Thomas Clausen, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Kristin Romvig Øvergaard, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Unn Kristin Haukvik, University of Oslo
Summary
While most individuals with psychotic disorders are not violent, they are more likely to commit violent acts compared to the general population. The overall aim of this thesis was to improve our understanding of violence related to psychosis, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), and psychopathy. Specifically, the work aimed at identifying neuro biomarkers for both violence and psychopathy, focusing on the amygdala and hypothalamus. Another aim was to explore the comorbidity of psychotic disorders with ASPD and psychopathy and to investigate differences in psychopathy subdomains between violent offenders with and without a psychotic disorder.
The subject sample consisted of patients with a psychotic disorder with and without a history of violence, non-psychotic violent offenders serving a preventive detention sentence, and healthy controls. All underwent thorough clinical characterization and MRI scanning. Psychopathy traits were assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).
Patients with a psychotic disorder and a history of violence had smaller volumes in amygdala nuclei involved in fear modulation, stress responses, and social interpretation compared to healthy controls. Regarding hypothalamus, persons with a history of violence exhibited one smaller subunit compared to the non-violent groups, a unit involved in hormone production thought to be relevant to aggressive behavior.
Total psychopathy profiles were similar between violent offenders with and without a psychotic disorder. However, the incarcerated group had higher core symptoms of psychopathy, such as reduced empathy.
This research may lead to a better understanding of the roles of these brain areas in relation to psychotic disorders and violence. Moreover, it underscores the importance of assessing ASPD and psychopathic traits in violent individuals with psychotic disorders.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.