Violent persons with schizophrenia and comorbid disorders: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

The main goal of this functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study was to verify the hypothesis that seriously violent persons with Sz and the co-morbid diagnoses of an Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and a Substance Use Disorder (Sz + APD + SUD) would present a different pattern of prefrontal functioning than seriously violent persons with Sz only. In support with the main hypothesis, frontal basal cortices were significantly less activated in persons with Sz + APD + SUD during the execution of a go/no-go task than in persons with Sz only and non-violent persons without a mental illness. In contrast, significantly higher activations in frontal motor, premotor and anterior cingulate regions were observed in the Sz + APD + SUD group than in the Sz-only group.