A new study suggests that children with prolonged disruptive behavior may have smaller brains compared to well-behaved children, rather than simply exhibiting naughty behavior. British researchers found significant reductions in brain areas responsible for regulating behavior and emotion, such as the cortex, in children exhibiting behaviors like lying, stealing, fighting, and bullying. Deep brain areas involved in emotion regulation and reasoning, like the amygdala, also showed lower volume in brain scans. This disruptive behavior, known as “conduct disorder,” affects about 7% of boys and 3% of girls aged 5 to 10, with prevalence increasing slightly in teenage years. It is characterized by extreme and long-lasting aggressive behaviors beyond typical childish mischief.
