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. 2023 Jul 27;59(8):1377.
doi: 10.3390/medicina59081377.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Related Antisocial Behavioral Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Giuseppa Maresca  1 , Viviana Lo Buono  1 , Anna Anselmo  2 , Davide Cardile  1 , Caterina Formica  1 , Desiree Latella  1 , Angelo Quartarone  1 , Francesco Corallo  1
Affiliations

Traumatic Brain Injury and Related Antisocial Behavioral Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Giuseppa Maresca et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Higher level of aggression and antisocial behavior have been found in the period following head trauma. These changes are attributable to specific brain alterations that generally involved frontal lobe, insula and limbic system. A descriptive review was conducted on the specificity of aggressive behavior in relation to traumatic brain injury by evaluating numerous variables, focusing on age at the time of trauma and neuroimaging studies. Materials and Methods: We searched on PubMed and the Web of Science databases to screen references of included studies and review articles for additional citations. From an initial 738 publications, only 27 met the search criteria of describing the relationship between aggression, brain alterations and traumatic brain injury. Results: These findings showed that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is related to changes in behavior, personality and mood. Conclusions: The development of aggressive and criminal behavior is associated with multiple factors, including the etiology of injury, environmental, psychosocial and personality factors and age at the time of trauma.

Keywords: aggression; brain imaging; criminal behavior; forensic psychiatry; juvenile offenders; psychiatric comorbidity; traumatic brain injury (TBI); violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart for the current review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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