4 Troubled Teens Blog

Researchers Identify Biological Basis for Teen Conduct Disorder

Two new research studies have found biological links to both antisocial behavior and schizophrenia.

The first study was from the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. Professor Ian Goodyer, and his colleagues used brain scanning techniques to discover differences between the brains of normal children and those who have conduct disorders.

  • Dr. Goodyer had the children look at faces with angry, sad or neutral expressions.
  • Normal children showed activity in the area of the brain responsible for processing emotions.
  • However, children with conduct disorder showed less activity. In fact, the more aggression and antisocial behavior they were known to exhibit, the greater their level of brain abnormality.
  • The study appeared in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

The second study, this time from the University of Nottingham, found differences in the type of brain waves among people who have brothers or sisters with schizophrenia.

  • The researchers used electroencephalography or EEGs from 30 teenagers who had siblings with schizophrenia and compared them with 36 teenagers who did not.
  • The differences that show up in the EEG are also related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
     

Labels: conduct disorder

Posted By: Troubled Teens

Comments:

former_teacher on 7/15/2010
The more we learn, the more we discover that so-called "bad kids" have much more working against them than simply a mysterious desire to be disruptive & divisive. Though so many parents and teachers seem to believe that the answer to improving behavior is through punishment or other types of negative reinforcement, the truth is that we need to adopt a more comprehensive and compassionate approach to this complex problem.