Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Research Scholarships - Master's program

This study investigates broad neural network activity and connectivity in psychopathy. Prior research suggests that hyperconnectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and dorsal frontoparietal network (dFPN) may contribute to characteristic psychopathic cognitive-affective deficits. Typically, the DMN deactivates when attention is directed outward, while the dFPN engages in sustained goal-directed processing. Hyperconnectivity between these regions could result in reduced flexibility when shifting between internal and external attentional foci, impeding on perceptual processing and cognitive-affective abilities. No study has yet measured cortical network activity during rest and sustained attention in a population with psychopathic traits to uncover activity and connectivity patterns using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). The present study will assess DMN and dFPN metabolic activity using fNIRS in psychiatric patients with high and low psychopathic traits as determined by Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores. Participants (N = 40) will complete three rest-task blocks where rest will engage the DMN and a sustained-attention magnitude task will engage the dFPN. Activity will be recorded from optodes placed over DMN and dFPN regions. Time-series data will be used to compute mean network activity and DMN-dFPN correlations during rest and task conditions. ANCOVA models with PCL-R scores as the covariate of interest will test predicted main effects and interactions. It is hypothesized that PCL-R scores will positively correlate with mean DMN activity during task and negatively correlate with DMN-dFPN correlations during task. Findings will contribute to theoretical models of psychopathy and potential clinical interventions.