"Prefrontal deficits" discriminate young offenders from age-matched cohorts: Juvenile delinquency as an expected feature of the normal distribution of prefrontal cerebral development

A total of 36 male adolescent delinquents and 19 age-matched students from a male secondary school were administered several different performance-bas ed tests. Although estimates of intelligence did not differ significantly b etween the groups, the incarcerated delinquents displayed more impulsivity, loner conceptual Ia dl less conceptual flexibility, and poorer critical th inking than the reference group. The linear combination of only three varia bles. critical thinking, conceptual level, and numbers of errors during a c onditioned spatial association task, correctly classified 89% of the 55 sub jects. The results were considered consistent with the hypothesis that dela yed or different development of complex functions associated with the left and (particularly) the right prefrontal cortices and their limbic inputs ma y be responsible for antisocial behavior. This variation will always be pre sent due to the statistical variations in ontogeny and less than optimal pa rental structure within a consistent but small proportion of any generation al cohort.