The experimental psychological study of mentally healthy offenders accused of crimes committed by the mechanism of impulsive aggression was provided. The control group consisted of healthy male volunteers who did not commit offenses. The battery of psychometric techniques was applied, notably questionnaires of Spielberger, Rusalov’s structure of temperament questionnaire, Rotter’s modified version of the subjective control level assessment, Zuckerman and Buss-Durkee questionnaires. It was shown that the core of pathocharacterological complex of healthy individuals prone to impulsive aggression is temperamental features associated with changes in such components of functional system as afferent synthesis, acceptor of action results, and feedback afferentation. A comparative analysis of the results of mentally healthy persons and persons with borderline psychiatric disorders (that do not exclude responsibility) confirmed the hypothesis that, on the whole, the mechanism of impulsive aggression is not determined by the factor of mental disorder.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that the components of brain-evoked potentials (EPs) may serve as biomarkers of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by participation in combat operations; however, to date, research remains fragmented, with no studies that have attempted to combine different paradigms. In addition, the mismatch negativity component has not been studied in a Russian sample of veterans with PTSD. AIM: To identify objective neurophysiological markers of combat-related PTSD using the method of auditory-evoked potentials in active and passive listening paradigms. METHODS: The study included a recording of auditory EPs in an oddball paradigm in three settings: 1) directed attention to auditory stimuli, 2) passive listening while viewing a neutral video sequence, and 3) viewing a video sequence associated with a traumatic event. Combatants diagnosed with PTSD (18 people) were compared with mentally healthy civilian volunteers (22 people). RESULTS: An increase in the latency period of the early components of auditory EP (N100 and P200), an increase in the amplitude of the P200 component to a deviant stimulus, and a decrease to a standard one in the active listening paradigm were established in the PTSD group. There were no significant differences in the parameters of the P300 component. The characteristics of mismatch negativity in the passive paradigm were revealed: an increase in the phenomenon amplitude, both when shown a video sequence associated with a traumatic event and when shown a neutral video sequence. A binary logistic regression model constructed using the selected parameters showed that the identified characteristics can potentially be considered as diagnostic markers of PTSD in combatants, as the classification accuracy stood at 87% (sensitivity — 81%, specificity — 91%). CONCLUSION: Potential neurophysiological markers of PTSD are the following: the amplitude and latency of early components of auditory EPs in the paradigm of directed attention to stimuli and the amplitude of mismatch negativity during passive attention.

The comparative study of sensorimotor gating in the model of acoustic startle response (ASR) and personal traits was provided in mentally healthy offenders (24 s.) and offenders with personal disorders (15 s.) accused of crimes committed by the mechanism of impulsive aggression (IA) was provided. The control group consisted of 39 healthy male volunteers. The battery of psychometric techniques was applied, notably questionnaires of Spielberger, Rusalov’s structure of temperament questionnaire, Rotter’s modified version of the subjective control level assessment, Zuckerman and Buss-Durkee questionnaires. The basic ASR measures and prepulse modification were analyzed. Significantly different IA mechanisms were found in the groups of offenders at both the psychological and neurobiological level. It has been shown that, in individuals with personality disorders, the IA is based on the propensity to realize their own aggressive intentions or motivations, which, apparently, acquires a self-contained motivating value regardless of external stimuli. The important role of emotional factors in the mechanisms of impulsive aggressive reactions was shown in the mentally healthy offenders.

Objective. To improve understanding of psychophysiological underpinnings of anxiety disorders a comprehensive study, that included the analysis of cognitive tasks performance, event-related potentials and psychometric scales, has been conducted.Materials and Methods. Participants were patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD group — 12 s.), mixed anxiety and depressive disorder (ADD group — 16 s.) and healthy volunteers (control group — 16 s.). The psychometric techniques included the questionnaires of Spielberger, HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and Carver-White (BIS/BAS Scale). Psychophysiological methods included antisaccade task (AS) and event-related evoked potentials P300 that were recorded during auditory oddball task.Results. The significantly increased anxiety and depression scales, as well as the decreased BAS Reward Responsiveness scale, was found in patients of both clinical groups compared to control one; the increased BIS scale was revealed only in ADD group. In GAD and ADD groups AS performance was worse in response to stimuli in left hemi-field that are initially processed in right hemisphere; on the contrary, decreased number of target stimuli omissions was found in oddball task in clinical groups. P300 amplitude was larger, and P300 latency was shorter for patients with ADD compared to controls. Analysis of asymmetry demonstrated that P300 amplitudes were greater over the frontal-central right than over the left hemisphere in ADD group.Conclusion. The study demonstrated that anxiety disorders are accompanied by reallocation of attentional resources and changes in functional organization of brain networks involved in attention and executive functions. With the same direction, the shifts were greater in ADD group.

В одномоментном ретроспективном исследовании с целью выявления особенностей непроизвольной обработки сенсорной и сенсомоторной информации у лиц с импульсивным агрессивны м поведением оценивали предстимульную модификацию акустической стартл-реакции и торможение вызванного потенциала Р50 у 23 человек, совершивших импульсивно-агрессивные преступления (основная группа), и у 29 социально адаптированны х добровольцев. В основной группе выявлено повышение латентного периода стартл-реакции, дефицит модификации её амплитуды и латентности предстимулом, снижение амплитуды и удлинение латентности Р50 на первый стимул в паре, дефицит торможения Р50. С использованием найденных различий как предикторов бы ла получена диагностическая модель для выявления риска импульсивной агрессии с уровнем точности...