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Abnormal amygdala activation profile in pedophilia

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Abstract

Despite considerable public interest research in neurobiological correlates of pedophilia is scarce. Since amygdala activation is central for emotional valuation, arousal, and salience, we investigated the activation profile of this structure in 10 male subjects with pedophilia (exclusively attracted to boys), all convicted sex-offenders and sentenced to forensic psychiatric treatment along with ten male heterosexual matched controls. We used a sexually non-explicit functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) paradigm with images of men, women, boys or girls randomly embedded in neutral target/non-target geometrical symbols. We applied statistical parametric mapping (SPM2) and SPSS 14 for image processing and analysis. While controls activated significantly less to pictures of children compared to adults, the activation profile was reversed in subjects with pedophilia, who exhibited significantly more activation to children than adults. The highest activation was observed for boys in the patient group, and for women in control participants. Our data show enhanced activation to children’s pictures even in an incidental context and suggest the provocative hypothesis that a normally present mechanism for reduced emotional arousal for children relative to adults is reversed in pedophilia, suggesting a neural substrate associated with deviant sexual preference in this condition. More extensive research in this field would be of benefit for both the victims and the offenders.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the Rhineland-Palatine ministry of labour and social affairs. Pedophile patients are treated in forensic security hospitals of Landeck (Director M. Noetzel, M.D.) and Andernach (Director W. Schuhmacher-Wandersleb M.D.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany

    Alexander Sartorius MD, Dipl. Phys., Matthias Ruf Dipl. Ing., Christine Kief Dipl. Psych., Traute Demirakca Dr. Dipl.-Psych., Josef Bailer Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Psych., Gabriele Ende Priv.-Doz. Dr. rer. nat., Fritz A. Henn Prof. MD, PhD, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg Prof. MD, PhD & Harald Dressing Prof. MD

  2. Unit for Systems Neuroscience in Psychiatry, Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, New York, USA

    Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg Prof. MD, PhD

  3. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Life Sciences Directorate, Upton, New York, USA

    Fritz A. Henn Prof. MD, PhD

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  1. Alexander Sartorius MD, Dipl. Phys.
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  2. Matthias Ruf Dipl. Ing.
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  3. Christine Kief Dipl. Psych.
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Correspondence to Harald Dressing Prof. MD.

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Alexander Sartorius and Matthias Ruf contributed equally to the paper.

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Sartorius, A., Ruf, M., Kief, C. et al. Abnormal amygdala activation profile in pedophilia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosc 258, 271–277 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-008-0782-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-008-0782-2

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