Childhood lead exposure has been correlated to acts of delinquency and criminal behavior; however, little research has been conducted to examine its potential long term influence on behavioral factors such as personality, specifically psychopathic personality. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the effects of childhood lead exposure persist into adulthood, with structural abnormalities found in gray and white matter regions involved in behavioral decision making. The current study examined whether measurements of adult psychopathy were associated with neuroanatomical differences in structural brain volumes for a longitudinal cohort with measured childhood lead exposure. We hypothesized that increased total psychopathy scores and increased blood lead concentration at 78 months of age (PbB78) would be inversely associated with volumetric measures of gray and white matter brain structures responsible for executive and emotional processing. Analyses did not display a direct effect between total psychopathy score and gray matter volume; however, reduced white matter volume in the cerebellum and brain stem in relation to increased total psychopathy scores was observed. An interaction between sex and total psychopathy score was also detected. Females displayed increased gray matter volume in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes associated with increased total psychopathy score, but did not display any white matter volume differences. Males primarily displayed reductions in frontal gray and white matter brain volume in relation to increased total psychopathy scores. Additionally, reduced gray and white matter volume was associated with increased blood lead levels in the frontal lobes; reduced white matter volume was also observed in the parietal and temporal lobes. Females demonstrated gray and white matter volume loss associated with increased PbB78 values in the right temporal lobe, as well as reduced gray matter volume in the frontal lobe. Males displayed reduced white matter volumes associated with increased PbB78 values in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Comparison of the two primary models revealed a volumetric decrease in the white matter of the left prefrontal cortex associated with increased total psychopathy scores and increased blood lead concentration in males. The results of this study suggested that increased psychopathy scores in this cohort may be attributable to the neuroanatomical abnormalities observed and that childhood lead exposure may be influential to these outcomes.

儿童期铅暴露与犯罪行为相关；然而，很少有研究来检验其对人格（特别是精神病态人格）等行为因素的潜在长期影响。神经影像学研究表明，儿童时期铅暴露的影响持续到成年，与行为决策相关的灰质和白质区域发现结构异常。当前的研究检查了成人精神病的测量是否与测量儿童铅暴露的纵向队列的脑结构体积的神经解剖学差异相关。我们假设，78 个月大时精神病总分的增加和血铅浓度的增加 (PbB78) 与负责执行和情绪处理的灰质和白质大脑结构的体积测量值呈负相关。分析并未显示精神病总分与灰质体积之间存在直接影响；然而，观察到小脑和脑干中白质体积的减少与精神病总得分的增加有关。还检测到性别和精神病总分之间的相互作用。女性的额叶、颞叶和顶叶灰质体积增加，与精神病总分增加相关，但没有显示任何白质体积差异。男性主要表现出额叶灰质和白质脑体积的减少，与精神病总分的增加有关。此外，灰质和白质体积的减少与额叶血铅水平的升高有关。顶叶和颞叶的白质体积也减少。 女性表现出与右颞叶 PbB78 值增加相关的灰质和白质体积损失，以及额叶灰质体积的减少。男性白质体积减少，与额叶、颞叶和顶叶 PbB78 值增加相关。两个主要模型的比较显示，男性左前额皮质白质体积减少与精神病总评分增加和血铅浓度增加相关。这项研究的结果表明，该队列中精神病得分的增加可能归因于观察到的神经解剖学异常，并且儿童时期的铅暴露可能对这些结果有影响。