Although many studies have shown that delinquents are impaired on certain e
xecutive function tasks related to frontal lobe functioning, whether psycho
paths present with such impairments is still controversial. Lapierre et al.
[1995, Neuropsychologia 33:139-151] have investigated a more specific hypo
thesis of orbitofrontal deficits in psychopaths and found that psychopathic
criminals are impaired on tasks involving behavioral inhibition and olfact
ory discrimination, The present study sought to replicate these results wit
h juvenile psychopaths 14 to 18 years of age. As expected, psychopaths were
found to be significantly impaired on behavioral inhibition tasks. However
, psychopathic and nonpsychopathic inmates performed similarly on measures
related to the dorsolateral area of the frontal lobe, Also, no significant
intergroup difference was noted on the olfactory discrimination task. Altho
ugh an orbitofrontal deficit in psychopathy remains possible, it is suggest
ed to explain results through a functional inhibition deficit that is not s
pecifically related to orbitofrontal processing. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.