Prefrontal Extinction

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits a key role in the working memory and has an established link to the executive functions of cognition and behaviour. Impulsive behaviour is displayed in patients that suffer lesions to the PFC, as one of the important functions is that of inhibition. Therefore there is evidence to suggest that dysfunction to the PFC leads to anti-social behaviour, which is characterised by actions which cause harm to others or disturb the environment. As the PFC is crucial for the development of moral judgement, it is thought that damage to the frontal lobes in the developmental stages (during childhood) may result in adaptive deficits which continue through to adulthood (Eslinger, Flaherty-Craig & Benton, 2004).
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Patients with developmental-onset lesions to the vmPFC were subject to more self-centred judgements that imposed harm on others and so “a deficit in such learning is associated with poor socialisation and criminal behaviour” (Taber-Thomas et al, 2014, p1254). Thus confirming that damage to the PFC during the stages of development incites anti-social

This is characterised by anti-social behaviour, impulsivity and lack of concern, empathy and guilt in regard of the likes of others (Hare, 1995). The amygdala, implicated in learning the emotional value of stimuli, and the vmPFC are implicated in morality and when dysfunctional, it results in psychopathy. In regards to psychopathy, Blair (2007) explains that dysfunction in these areas means that ethical decision making is undermined and anti-social behaviour is used for the advancement of one’s goals. Further support for link between PFC dysfunction and psychopathy comes from LaPierre, Braun and Hodgins (1995) who found that compared with non-psychopathic criminals, psychopathic criminals displayed noteworthy deficits on tests explicitly used to assess medial and orbital functioning. There is evidence for the frequency of aggression as Foster, Hillbrand and Silverstein (1993) found that psychiatric patients that had committed a violent crime scored poorly on tests of executive function in the frontal lobes predicted how often patients were aggressive. The orbitofrontal cortex mediates facial recognition and expression of emotions which is stimulated when changing facial expressions indicate a signal for a change in behaviour (Uekermann.& Daum, 2008). This is supported by evidence concerning human lesion impairments when recognising emotional facial