Neurobiology is especially useful for understanding antisocial behaviour. The central point in practice is a low response to rewards, with a weak sympathetic activation (the body's mobilising response) when a reward is offered.
In their work on Polyvagal Theory and developmental psychopathology (the study of how psychological disorders emerge during growth), Theodore P. Beauchaine, Lisa Gatzke-Kopp and Hilary K. Mead examine the role of emotion dysregulation in conduct problems from preschool to adolescence. Their research shows the value of Polyvagal Theory, first proposed by Porges (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003), for understanding the physiological basis of psychopathology, particularly externalizing behaviours (problems directed outwards, such as aggression and rule-breaking) in children and adolescents.
Key points from the research:
Role of Polyvagal Theory in psychopathology:
Polyvagal Theory offers an organising framework for understanding how the autonomic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that works without conscious control) shapes emotion regulation and emotional lability, that is, rapid and unstable shifts of mood. This understanding is essential for addressing conduct problems and other externalizing behaviours.
Findings in children with conduct problems:
Beauchaine et al. summarise three studies of children aged 4-18 with conduct problems. These children show reduced sympathetic nervous system responses to rewards, which indicates weak approach motivation, the drive to move towards what is pleasant.
By middle school, this insensitivity to reward is joined by poor vagal modulation of cardiac output (the vagus nerve regulates heart activity less effectively), which points to deficits in emotion regulation.
Implications for early intervention:
The research suggests a biosocial developmental model: an inherited impulsivity is amplified when the social environment reinforces emotional instability. This model shows the importance of early intervention focused on emotion regulation and on social reinforcement.
Polyvagal Theory and externalizing psychopathology:
Combining Polyvagal Theory with theories of social reinforcement and motivation clarifies the causal mechanisms behind several psychopathological patterns. This combination is essential for identifying effective points of intervention in serious externalizing behaviour.
In summary, this research confirms the central role of Polyvagal Theory in understanding and addressing developmental psychopathology. By examining how the autonomic nervous system works in children with conduct problems, it shows the physiological side of emotion dysregulation and its effect on externalizing behaviour. The findings call for early intervention that addresses both the physiological and the social aspects of these behaviours.
In Polyvagal Theory, the dorsal branch of the vagus nerve is particularly significant for antisocial behaviour. As described by Stephen Porges, the theory distinguishes two branches of the vagus nerve: the older branch from the dorsal motor nucleus (DMX), also called the "vegetative vagus", which slows the body down; and the newer branch from the nucleus ambiguus (NA), often called the "smart vagus", which supports calm and social contact.
Role of the dorsal vagus in antisocial behaviour:
Dorsal vagus and metabolic suppression:
The dorsal vagus is linked to the oldest survival strategy, freezing in the face of threat, already present in primitive vertebrates. Under danger this branch reduces metabolic demand, the body's need for energy, and in effect shuts down bodily responses.
Relation to antisocial behaviour:
In human behaviour, and in antisocial behaviour in particular, activation of the dorsal vagus can produce a state of disconnection or dissociation (a split from one's feelings and surroundings). This appears as a lack of responsive, adaptive social behaviour, and contributes to an antisocial presentation.
Antisocial behaviour may be linked to a dominant dorsal vagal response: the sense of threat or danger is overwhelming, and the person reacts with withdrawal, emotional numbing or dissociation rather than adaptive social engagement.
Contrast with the smart vagus:
The smart vagus, by contrast, modulates heart rate and metabolic output in the service of social affiliation, the bonds we form with others. It supports engagement, attention and calm states.
In people with predominant smart vagal activity, fight/flight responses are better regulated, which allows more adaptive social behaviour.
Implications for intervention:
If the dorsal vagus plays this role in antisocial behaviour, therapeutic work can focus on re-engaging the smart vagus, through techniques that promote safety, social engagement and bodily regulation.
Activities that stimulate the smart vagus, such as deep breathing, social interaction and positive emotional experiences, can counteract the dissociated, withdrawn states produced by dorsal vagal dominance.
In summary, within the polyvagal framework the dorsal vagus plays a critical role in antisocial behaviour through metabolic suppression and dissociation in response to perceived threat, while the smart vagus supports social engagement and adaptive responses. Our non-verbal practice showed us, years before Polyvagal Theory was applied to behaviour, that withdrawn, closed people open up when the body receives signals of safety through presence, posture and a calm tone of the nervous system; the theory now traces this change to the body's sense of safety. Therapeutic approaches that stimulate the smart vagus, and so the person's inner force, can effectively reduce the impact of dorsal vagal dominance in people with antisocial behaviour.
Learn the method
Mesmeric Polyvagal Therapy is taught in the courses of Dr. Paret's School (ISI-CNV – Université Européenne): live seminars and online lessons, from the first-level Master to advanced training, with specific expertise in polyvagal hypnosis, trembling, completion of the response and ventral vagal stimulation. Request the programme and the next dates: our first contact is always a WhatsApp message, never a call.
→ Request information on the courses
→ Videos and international activity of Dr. Paret
→ marcoparet.com: the School of Dr. Paret
This site is available in: English · Italiano · Français · Русский · 中文
Research notes
A selection of peer-reviewed studies on polyvagal theory and vagal function that offer a scientific reading of the topics discussed in this article.
Koenig J, Kemp AH, et al. (2015). Resting state vagal tone in borderline personality disorder: a meta-analysis. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 64, 18-26. A meta-analysis of five studies found lower resting vagally mediated HRV in borderline personality disorder than in controls, which the authors relate to difficulties with emotion regulation and impulsivity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2015.07.002
Beauchaine TP (2015). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: a transdiagnostic biomarker of emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 43-47. Beauchaine reviews evidence that low respiratory sinus arrhythmia and excessive vagal withdrawal under challenge are found across many forms of emotion dysregulation, including attention problems and hostility, and links them to prefrontal control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.01.017
Thayer JF, Lane RD (2008). Claude Bernard and the heart-brain connection: further elaboration of a model of neurovisceral integration. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33(2), 81-88. The authors describe prefrontal inhibitory pathways that modulate heart rate, propose that the default response to uncertainty is a threat response, and review evidence that low vagally mediated HRV is a risk factor for psychopathology; this frames habitual vigilance in autonomic terms. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.08.004